The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

September 8, 2008

It’s not too late for seniors to file

More than 1,200 in Edgecombe County have not filed for stimulus payments

W. TERRY SMITH

More than 1,200 Edgecombe County senior citizens, veterans and people with disabilities have not applied for an economic stimulus check, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Most of them failed to file federal income tax returns. But it is not too late. They have until Oct. 15 to file and receive checks, $300 per individual.

“It’s a problem,” said Mark Hanson, an IRS spokesman in Washington, D.C. “There’s still quite a few we can’t get the money to.”

The economic stimulus payments were proposed by President Bush and authorized by Congress earlier this year.

Taxpayers were automatically enrolled in the program when the IRS processed their 2007 returns. Checks began arriving in May, and the IRS has issued 76 million payments worth $63.8 billion. The agency expects to issue 124 million payments by year's end.

However, 177,320 of North Carolina’s residents did not receive checks because they do not typically file returns, IRS data shows. Their primary incomes are either Social Security or Veterans Administration benefits.

That includes 1,223 in Edgecombe County.

Nationally, about 5.2 million people though to be eligible have not filed.

Social Security and VA receipts typically are not required to file tax returns if those benefits are their main income, but they were required to fill out abbreviated 1040 forms this year to get their stimulus checks.

“It takes about 15 minutes,” said Deborah Pittman Coley, director of the Edgecombe County Office on Aging.

Some private tax firms are offering, for a fee, to help seniors file their taxes.

Coley said she would help seniors for free to prepare and file the paperwork.

Seniors can file for free online at http://www.IRS.gov.

More information is available at the IRS Web site: http://www.IRS.gov and going to the Rebate Payment Questions link.

There also is a special toll-free Rebate Hotline at 1-866-234-2942.

Also, the IRS has an office in Greenville at 2835 S. Charles Blvd. that is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The IRS reminds seniors it does not phone or e-mail citizens.

Text Only
Local News
  • Teresa Bryant headshot.jpg Bryant declines to seek re-election

    Teresa DeLoatch Bryant announced she will not seek re-election to the District 2 seat she now holds on the Edgecombe County Public Schools Board. The announcement came 91 days before the May 8 Primary Election and nearly a year after the first-term plus one year board member announced her resignation for personal and career reasons. She later rescinded her decision.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • MimiHerman.jpg W.A. Patillo receives $5,000 poetry grant

    W.A. Pattillo School has been awarded $5,000 from the North Carolina Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.
    The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Herman. Students will gain self-confidence, and will view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling, and impressions.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • IMG_5889.JPG Pizza Bowl

    The biggest football game of the year brings the largest sale of the year for two area pizza restaurants.
    Tarboro branches of Pizza Inn and Dominos Pizza are gearing up for Super Bowl XLVI Sunday by increasing their regular employee lineup by as many as seven.
    Pizza Inn is running a special that they believe will keep them busy throughout the day. Last year they sold over 200 large pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday compared to 50 on an average Sunday.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Edgecombe unemployment up in December

    TARBORO — Unemployment rates increased in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in December. Rates decreased in four counties and remained the same in three.
    Edgecombe, which saw a slight improvement in November, fell back to its October 2011 level (15.7%). Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Edgecombe and Dare are tied at third highest in unemployment. 

    February 3, 2012

  • Three ECPS campuses ahead of First Lady's nutritional guidelines

    When First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new guidelines for the nutritional overhaul of school meals last week, they could have chosen three of Edgecombe County's public schools as their models.

    February 2, 2012

  • Lynn_Cale.jpg ECC Executive Named to United Way Board

    J. Lynn Cale, associate vice president of instruction at Edgecombe
    Community College, has been named to the United Way Tar River Region
    Board of Directors.
        The Tar River Region serves Edgecombe and Nash counties. Cale
    will serve a one-year term, from January to December 2012.
        He and other board members oversee 41 local health and human
    service programs funded through United Way as well as 21 Community
    Partners and various community development partnerships.
    RIGHT: J. Lynn Cale

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Pattillo Alumni Association on the move

    The Board of Directors (BOD) of W.A. Pattillo High School National Alumni
    Association, Inc. held a meeting on Jan. 21, at Pattillo School under the leadership of its President, Dr. Fred S. Wood, Jr.  All of the officers except one were in attendance, accompanied by 9 of 16 Board Members and 9 of 10 Appointed Standing Committee Chairpersons.

    February 2, 2012

  • BandSEDriverHouse.jpg Local students selected for N.C. Eastern All-District Band

    Three Edgecombe County Public Schools students have been chosen to play in the All-District Band. Lillian House, an alto saxophone player and Kaitlin Driver, a French horn player both eighth graders from South Edgecombe Middle School and West Edgecombe Middle School eighth grade flute player, Taylor Joyner earned the honor this year and will grace the stage at East Carolina University’s Wright Auditorium Feb. 3.

    February 1, 2012 2 Photos

  • Robbery prevention

    Community education on robbery prevention shares equal importance with the search of robbery suspects. Robbery prevention may seem unachievable, but we can not continue to ignore the problem of robbery in our community. As local citizens, we should create ways in which everyone can benefit from the knowledge of robbery prevention.

    February 1, 2012

  • GHW 01-28-1221.JPG George Henry White: tribute to a great American

      Why isn’t George Henry White a household name?  If Vincent Spalding has anything to do with it, that will soon change.
         Long ignored in African American history books and recognitions, George Henry White of North Carolina was elected to Congress in 1896, and re-elected in 1898, becoming the last African American elected to Congress after Reconstruction, and the first to serve in the 20th century.

    January 31, 2012 1 Photo