I rise to greet the stranger as she enters. She comes clutching a sheaf of papers, a child in tow. We exchange names, I remind her how the process will proceed, and we settle into our chairs. She begins to speak, telling me about what’s happened in her life. She answers my questions, providing a fuller picture of her decisions and regrets, and I use my knowledge to put the narrative into a meaningful form.
I am not a doctor nor a confessor. No, for this hour, at least, I am an unpaid tax preparer.
My commitment to this unusual volunteer gig came from my own taxpaying experience. In my first year of college, I received a W2 from a summer job and a 1098-T from my university. I was unsure how to calculate my taxes and feared making mistakes, so I made an appointment with a nearby paid tax service. The appointment took about 30 minutes and cost $250.
My impoverished student self was appalled at the price tag, especially for what felt as simple and necessary as an oil change. I vowed never again to use a paid service for basic tax prep. When the next tax season rolled around, I gathered tax forms and instruction booklets from the library along with the 2001 edition of Taxes for Dummies. I parsed the difference between credits and deductions, earned and unearned income, feeling accomplished as I mailed the completed return. After graduating college, I continued to prepare my taxes, learning more complicated calculations for charitable giving and interest on student loan repayments.
Several years later, I spotted a sign at the library advertising free tax prep. Curious, I called the number on the flyer. I learned that my local United Way sponsored a program called VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance). Volunteers with the VITA program underwent IRS-certified tax training, becoming proficient at preparing basic or advanced returns. The program was open to taxpayers under a certain income.
In 2006, I became a VITA volunteer for the first time, an annual practice I continue to this day. Our routine goes like this: On a tax prep day, volunteers arrive early at a community tax site, usually a school or recreation center. We are provided with laptops and workstations that allow for semi-private conversations. A trained greeter welcomes clients, helping ensure prospective taxpayers have the documents necessary to receive help.
When clients sit at my station, we talk about big things: birth, graduation, retirement, and sometimes even the death of a spouse. We review the documents they’ve brought, listing interest received on a checking account, payments for dependent care, or 1099s received from gig work. I check boxes and enter numbers in the tax software during the conversation. Once all the questions are answered, a second tax volunteer reviews my work, ensuring the screen numbers match the taxpayer’s documents. We then tell the taxpayer how much is owed or how much of a refund they’ll receive. For a refund, we may enter bank account information for a direct deposit. Almost inevitably, the taxpayer shares plans for the refund, from car repairs to a family trip.
Preparing a return is discrete and clear, and for low-income families, the return often ends in a payment more significant than any other they’ll see in a year. I am proud to know they do not have to give a portion of that return to a paid service because of my efforts.
This year, at my urging, my coworker Laurel elected to get certified as a tax preparer. A recent college grad, Laurel will be able to offer tax help to a new generation of women. It makes me feel like a tax grandmother, seeing this new preparer launch into her life of helping others. Because of Laurel and others like her, future low-income individuals and families will have more money at tax time.
If you’d like to join in this needed service check out VITA https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-tax-volunteers or reach out to me for more details: [email protected]
