The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-02-28
BY s. BURTON HEATH NEA Staff CorreSnondenf

Special provision has been made in income tax law for members of armed forces. It is recognized that those outside the United States probably are in no position to pre- pare returns now; and that many have suffered financially by entering the services, and so are entitled to consideration.
 Three major types of dispensa- tion have been provided: First, filing of returns is deferred for certain groups, automatically and without formality.
 Members of the armed forces serving outside the continental United States or on sea duty do not have to file until the 18th day of the fourth month after their re- turn to this country.
 Civilian employees of the United States who are outside the western hemisphere as much as 90 days con- tinuously including March 15, and either prisoners Of enemy powers or are located in war zones, do not have to file until the 18th day of the fourth month after they return to this country.
 RULES FOR CIVILIANS Other civilians outside the west ern himisphere for more than 90 days continuously, including March 15, do not need to file until the 91st day after they return to this hemi- sphere.
 Tn any event, the deferment shall end not later than the 18th day of the third month after the month in which the war ends.
 Second, persons in the armed services who are located within the continental United States, ard who therefore do have to file re- turns, can attach to their return a letter explaining why payment of the tax at this time would work a hardship, and requesting defer ment.
 On the basis of that letter and, if the Collector sees fit, of a form he will send to the taxpayer for execution payment of the tax can be postponed up to six months after the taxpayer is de- mobilized, or the war ends, which ever comes first
 Third, the man or woman in the armed service gets special exemptions to cut the size of his or her tax. I shall discuss these exemptions in the next article. Meanwhile, should like to men, tion two other things which appI also to civilians but are particularly interesting to service people.
 A man and wife are considered to be living together even though one or both may be away from home throughout the year as members of the armed forces.
 Service men and their wives can file joint returns if they choose. In many instances, how ever, they can save 8 lot of money by filing individually when the stay-at-home wives are working.
 If the wife of a service man earned more than $1,2O0 last year, she must file, even though her husband, being out of the country, is. deferred.
 In that case, She should prepare an individual return to which, if she chooses, she can attach note reserving her privilege of substi- tuting a joint return when her husband returns.
 WHEN FILING SEPARATELY
 When separate return is filed the wife is entitled to claim as turns will file this year as individ- uals. Tn this instance:
 l. While the $1.2O0 personal exemption can be split any way the man and wife sees fit, credit for dependents must be taken by .Ne one who actually provided the major part of the support. 2. If their joint tax on 1922 income was not larger than the sum of their individual taxes on le43 income, they can divide the 1922 tax ffor line n. page 4) izi | any Wnv they sf fit SO lone as