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Church to provide free shredding

Church to provide free shredding

Get your old receipts, investments and tax documents in the car and over to South Memphis for some free shredding!

The lay organization of St. Andrew AME Church, 867 S. Parkway East, will offer free document shredding to the public Saturday, March 23, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The shredder will be set up on the parking lot adjacent to the church.

"We list it as a free event but we do accept donations to help with the cost, but payment isn't mandatory," said church spokesperson Michael Steward.

As a general rule, your debit and credit card receipts should be destroyed immediately after you reconcile them with your statements.

Investment documents should be shredded three years after the investment's sale.

The IRS now recommends shredding tax documents three years after the return date, instead of the conventional seven years.

 

Safer online tax prep

Continuing my Your Neighborhood series on tax preparation, the folks at ScamBook.com shared five tips to help consumers protect their financial identities:

* KNOW WHO'S HELPING YOU. That means researching the CPA, tax preparer or online tax service. Check them with the IRS's Office of Professional Responsibility and confirm their tax preparer ID numbers (PTIN). Find those resources inside this story. Also, check their histories with Scambook and the Better Business Bureau.

* FILE YOUR TAXES ASAP. The sooner consumers file, the less time scam artists have to file returns using stolen Social Security numbers.

Picking the right tax-preparer

Picking the right tax-preparer

Coco did a "no-no" -- and got away with it.

Coco is Carline Barrett, a bogus tax preparer Andy Wise busted last year almost a year to the day, preparing fraudulent tax returns. She fudged deductions and faked dependents, all from the back of a Parkway Village barbecue restaurant.

As of this writing, IRS agents have not arrested her for what was uncovered.

That story is why Andy's sharing these great tips from GoBankingRates.com on picking the right tax-preparer:

Credit repair scams sprout over lower-income areas

Credit repair scams sprout over lower-income areas

Businesses promising "credit repair" for a fee have sprouted all over Memphis, particularly in our lower-income areas.

Consumer advocates who work for the federal General Services Administration's Office of Citizen Services said many credit repair services are illegal -- or they are services you can perform yourself by ordering your own free credit reports and by drafting a disciplined debt pay-off plan.

The GSA's experts said before you commit to a credit repair scam, keep these in mind:

* A credit repair company must give you a copy of the "Consumer Credit File Rights under State and Federal Law" before you sign a contract.

* The company cannot perform any services until you have signed a written contract and completed a THREE-DAY WAITING PERIOD, during which time you can cancel the contract without paying any fees.