Archive: Business & Technology

“Thank goodness you’re here – I don’t know what else I would have done,” said one of the 1,500 taxpayers to one of the 80 volunteers at Alternatives Federal Credit Union’s Free Tax Preparation program.  Since 2002 Alternatives has hosted a VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) site at the Credit Union.  Alternatives’ Free Tax Preparation Program had record volumes of taxpayers, volunteers, and tax refunds this year. 

A total of 3.5 million dollars was returned to the local community.  Volunteers logged 1,900 hours working days, evenings, and weekends to prepare over 3,060 federal and state tax returns.  In addition to the refunds, the Free Tax Preparation program helped low-income residents save over $230,000 in tax preparation fees.

To put that $3.5 million in perspective, the average refund this year was $2,287, and represented, on average, 23% of a client’s income. Moreover, slightly over $2 million of the $3.5 million total refunds was due to the Earned Income Credit (EIC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).  These are refundable credits that support working families.  Unlike withholdings and most other tax credits, these credits are money that the taxpayer never had.  They are not a "refund" of an overpayment, but a direct transfusion of federal and state money into local families – one that they wouldn't get if they didn't file a tax return or didn’t file it properly.

To be sure that returns are filed properly, all of the volunteers take hours of training on tax law and must pass an IRS test to be certified volunteer tax preparers.  However, a visit to the VITA site is nothing like your typical encounter with an accountant or paid tax preparer.  Children are encouraged to come and play in the play area.  Tax preparers and clients engage in friendly banter.  The tax preparers are volunteers who genuinely care about the taxpayer’s life and financial situation.  It’s not just taxes, “it’s the people, volunteers and clients that make it interesting and rewarding,” said one volunteer.

Clients range in age from 15 to 88; they include a retired grandmother now raising her two grandchildren because of the forced absence of their parents and an Ithaca College student supporting himself and providing for his education with student loans and a part-time job.  The volunteers can’t help her raise her grandchildren or him to study, but they do help each of them sort out the additional complexities of their new tax situations and help get financial resources to raise the kids, to learn, and to live on.

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