Like the Internal Revenue Service, and more than a dozen other states, the Department of Treasury is limiting the number of booklets it is mailing out this year. As a budgetary savings measure, Treasury is mailing MI-1040CR2 (Homestead Property Tax Credit Veteran and Blind) and MI-1040CR-5 (Farmland Preservation Credit) instruction booklets only to taxpayers who filed their 2009 return on a Michigan Department of Treasury form and did not use a paid preparer.  The MI-1040CR-7 (Home Heating Credit) instruction books will be mailed to the previously mentioned group, as well as individuals on a list received from the Department of Human Services (DHS). MI-1040CR (Homestead Property Tax Credit) forms are being mailed to senior citizens and disabled individuals who filed on a Michigan Department of Treasury form and did not use a paid preparer.

While all forms and instructions can be viewed and/or downloaded from our Web site, commonly used forms will also be available at Treasury offices, most public libraries, Northern Michigan post offices, Michigan Secretary of State branch offices, and DHS county offices.

More than 70-percent of all Michigan income taxpayers file their returns electronically, either through a tax professional or by using computer software on their home pc. The number of e-filed returns is expected to grow again this year, keeping Michigan among the top states in the percentage of income tax returns filed electronically. E-filed returns are processed faster than paper returns, with refunds generally received within 10 business days. E-file is also secure and convenient. Free e-file opportunities are also available for select taxpayers, based on age, income, military status, and other considerations.

Because April 15, 2011 falls on Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in Washington, D.C., taxpayers will have an extra three days to file their income tax returns this year. Therefore, returns must be postmarked no later than Monday, April 18, 2011.