Census 2010

Some common problems when
filling out U.S. census forms,
which arrive by mail beginning
Monday:March 15, 2010
Ready for the 2010 census?
Forms start arriving today
.—HOUSEHOLD AND RESIDENCE:
These are determined by where
people live or sleep most of
the time as of April 1.
Household members should
include babies born on or
before April 1, 2010, as
well as non-U.S. citizens.
The rationale is that cities
and states should receive
federal money to support
everyone who uses their public
roads, schools and other programs.
College students who live away
from home and U.S. military
personnel who live in barracks
are tallied in those places.
If you have more than one home,
completely fill out the form
for your primary residence.
For the second home, mark "0''
for number of residents and
indicate you live elsewhere.
Doing that may help avoid
costly visits from a census taker.
For divorced parents who have
shared custody of a child,
indicate where a child usually
lives. If custody is split equally,
the child's residence is where he
or she is on April 1.

—RACE AND ETHNICITY: If no box
exists that describes yourself,
or with the level of specificity
you prefer, write it in the space
marked for "other race."
For example,
some Caribbean-Americans
plan to check the box for
"black, African Am., or Negro"
and then write in their ancestry.
Multiracial people might check
several race categories or write
in "multiracial," depending on
how they self-identify.
The labels do make a difference,
because census results will be

used to redraw congressional
districts with racial and ethnic
balance.

—INTERNET OPTION: There is none.
Census officials in 2008
determined that submitting
census data through the
Internet posed too large
a risk for security breaches.
The Census Bureau is testing
Web options for 2020, but for
now information must be
provided on official forms
and mailed or submitted
to a census taker.

—"LONG FORM": This year's census
is only 10 questions. Previously,
1 in 6 households — roughly
20 million — received a
detailed census questionnaire
called the "long form" that
asked about income, disability,
commuting, education level
and other characteristics.
After 2000, the long form was
eliminated and replaced by
the American Community Survey,
which is sent to about three
million households each year.
If you get an ACS form, the
Census Bureau asks you fill
out both surveys.

—MISSING FORMS: If you don't
receive a census form,
Census Bureau director
Robert Groves advises
that people wait until
April 12 to allow time
for it to arrive. After
April 12, people may
call the census help
line at 1-866-872-6868.
In rural parts of Alaska,
census information was
collected door-to-door
starting in January.
In addition,
about 12 million
addresses, mostly in rural
areas and Gulf Coast areas
affected by Hurricane Katrina,
began receiving hand-delivered
forms on March 1.

"Welcome to DOR’s New Blog
http://revenue.blog.state.ma.us/blog
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s new blog is now available at the
link above. We hope to use this blog to carry on conversations with Massachusetts
residents on matters related to taxes and revenues. The blog will
also provide a forum to discuss city and town finances in accordance with the
work done by the Division of Local Services. Please keep in mind that this blog
is not the place for the airing of individual tax matters or for formal comments
on DOR rules and regulations. Questions about individual tax matters should
continue to be directed to DOR Customer Service, either by using the “Contact
Us” information on the website or by calling Customer Service at 800-392-6089
or 617-887-6367.
The blog will however be used to link to or describe issues in taxation at the
local, state and federal level. The dramatic declines in revenue have precipitated
a robust discussion in Massachusetts about budget cuts, reductions in
services and the creation of new revenues to partially fill the hole left in the
budgets of cities and towns that rely on the state for local aid payments. This
type of discussion is taking place in virtually every state in the nation thanks to
the ongoing national economic downturn. We hope to continue the discussion
online with the Local Services component of DOR’s blog."

Massachusetts Department of Revenue Blog

Welcome to DOR’s New Blog
http://revenue.blog.state.ma.us/blog
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s new blog is now available at the
link above. We hope to use this blog to carry on conversations with Massachusetts
residents on matters related to taxes and revenues. The blog will
also provide a forum to discuss city and town finances in accordance with the
work done by the Division of Local Services. Please keep in mind that this blog
is not the place for the airing of individual tax matters or for formal comments
on DOR rules and regulations. Questions about individual tax matters should
continue to be directed to DOR Customer Service, either by using the “Contact
Us” information on the website or by calling Customer Service at 800-392-6089
or 617-887-6367.
The blog will however be used to link to or describe issues in taxation at the
local, state and federal level. The dramatic declines in revenue have precipitated
a robust discussion in Massachusetts about budget cuts, reductions in
services and the creation of new revenues to partially fill the hole left in the
budgets of cities and towns that rely on the state for local aid payments. This
type of discussion is taking place in virtually every state in the nation thanks to
the ongoing national economic downturn. We hope to continue the discussion
online with the Local Services component of DOR’s blog.