Another mistake an IRS-certified Basic-level VITA volunteer should have caught!

The New York Times also reports:

Mr. Geithner met with committee staff members on Dec. 19 to answer questions about the taxes on his I.M.F. income and about other relatively minor issues the staff had found. Those issues, for which Mr. Geithner recently paid $4,334 in back taxes and $1,232 in interest, include his mistaken claim of the dependent care credit on his income taxes for the costs of sleep-away camps in three years.

As you learned in studying for last week's Basic level VITA certification exam, taxpayers can claim summer day camp cost as eligible qualifying child care expenses on their tax returns, but overnight camp expenses do NOT count!

Of course, the clients at our VITA site would not consider $4,334 in additional taxes owed plus $1,232 in interest to be a "minor tax issue."