Volunteer Tax Preparation

Volunteering is one important goal during the 10 Year Plan.

Here in New York City, the volunteer clearinghouse "New York Cares" provides countless opportunities for New Yorkers to help fellow New Yorkers.

One opportunity that has been challenging, eye-opening, depressing and rewarding is volunteering to prepare tax returns for low-income New Yorkers. 

A couple of months ago, we decided to volunteer.  First came extensive online training, then live training and finally some difficult testing.  After learning a lot about filing status, earned income credit, Affordable Care Act and New York State returns, we managed to pass the multiple tests and were ready to begin.  

We chose to volunteer with The Financial Clinic. The Financial Clinic is a non-profit organization that provides financial education to low-income New Yorkers--helping people survive financially in an expensive city.

One of the Financial Clinic's services is free preparation and e-filing of federal and state tax returns.  The tax preparation program is actually sponsored by the I.R.S. and is known as VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.  To qualify for the program, taxpayers must earn less than $54,000 annually.

We volunteer at the Financial Clinic's East Harlem location in the Union Settlement house on 104th Street.  The area is a bustling, working class neighborhood with a diverse population.  The program's clients include all sorts of people:  young college students, single working parents, persons who are disabled, and retirees, among others.

Union Settlement Association, East 104th Street, NYC

A couple of facts will help put things in perspective. The annual income for a typical return is around $18,000, while the average refund is around $1,400.

Our clients have included:

• a permanently disabled adult whose monthly rent exceeds his monthly disability income
• a working single parent with three children living in an efficiency apartment
• a self-employed adult living with AIDS for the past 30 years
• a truck driver with no fixed address who had 7 different jobs in one year
• a hard-working adult with steady employment and a host of selfies with celebrities--from the Clinton's to Bernie Goetz to Patti LaBelle to Tito Puente
• a man who lived in the neighborhood  for 54 years and described the old days when stores were boarded up and men were shot on the street "for no reason"

A plus of volunteering in East Harlem has been using our language and people skills.  Many of the clients only speak Spanish or they prefer Spanish.  So, between forms in Spanish and some limited to no English fluency, we have worked hard to learn (or re-learn, in Greg's case) some basic Spanish.  Fortunately, language has not created any obstacles.  Where there is a will and a bit of understanding, there is always a way.  Plus, the practice is good for Year 8--Spain. (Perhaps we should also volunteer in Little Italy to learn some Italian for Year 2.)    

The program is beneficial for many reasons and we are proud to be part of it.  One benefit is helping low-income taxpayers pay to the government only what is required, which means they keep more money for rent and food.  Another benefit is protecting clients from predatory tax preparation services with their high fees, extortionate refund loans and high error rate.

Speaking candidly, the work is challenging intellectually and emotionally, but we are up to the challenge and are happy to be helping so many fellow New Yorkers.  All of the clients are grateful, especially one who hugged Greg when she learned a feared large tax payment became a small refund. 

Photo Greg at the tax clinic between meetings with clients.  Greg is probably checking March Madness results.