It’s like learning to ride a bike.

When I was asked to blog about my experience doing taxes for UWGC’s EITC tax program, my first thought was “me? blog? this should be interesting…”. I’ve never really blogged about anything before. I’ve tried to blog before and it never really intrigued me. Maybe I’ve just never really been much of a writer or maybe I’ve never really had much to write about.

However, I was glad I was given this opportunity because I really do want to share my experiences about doing taxes for people. Mainly because it’s been a very interesting experience (and I’m sure will continue to be so) and also I want to show that anyone can really do this. You don’t have to be a “numbers person”, you just have to be willing to take some time to learn and to stick with it because the more you do it, the easier it will become (as with anything I guess).

You may wonder why I would choose to do taxes in the first place. Well I have to admit; I started doing this mainly for myself. I wanted to learn more about taxes. I’ve always been a seeker of knowledge and I wanted to better understand how to do my own taxes and I figured this will be good way to start. I also love to help people and work with people, so that was also a big motivating factor.

I’ve always been big on volunteerism. I started volunteering when I was in high school, mostly with my church, but that mentality stuck with me. I participated in a few Crosstown Helpouts in college and I really loved doing that, so I knew when I would have more time to help others, I would make sure I did that.

Doing taxes for people is unique. It’s not just simply fixing up a building (which is great and also much needed), but it’s still just as instantaneously gratifying. You can give someone immediate results—you fill out the tax form, the software program calculates everything, and—BAM—you’re done! You can tell the person immediately how much they can expect to get back (or how much they may owe, which was very rare) and see their reaction. It’s different than some volunteering programs (such as tutoring) where you have to track changes over a long period time to see results. That’s probably the best thing about doing taxes.

My very first day doing taxes was very intimidating. My first choice of sites didn’t have as much need for volunteers (but it was the closest to my house, which is why I chose it first), so I decided to try one that would need me more help and I would have a better chance of making my time worthwhile. I went to Madisonville Community Center. This was probably the second closest to my house, that I had a vague idea of its location. I had never been to this community center, so when I walked in (carrying my back of books and resource materials), I told the front desk person I was here for the tax program. He immediately told me to write my name on a list that already had about 30 names filled in. I told him I was a volunteer and was here to do taxes, he pointed me towards the room where they were set up and said I could go right in. I walked down the hallway that was lined with about 30 people sitting on both sides, all staring at me as I walked past them. It was 15 minutes until the site opened and there were already this many people waiting. They were all here to get their taxes done by me and other volunteers. I felt extremely insignificant and not important enough for these people to sit and wait all day just for one of us to help them. I also now felt very responsible. I was going to make sure I could do everything I can so these people will get the return they deserve—and they truly did deserve it.

For all the praise I got when I told people I was doing taxes (which I don’t really deserve), the site coordinators deserve an infinitely more amount of praise. Without the site coordinators, there would be no tax program. The volunteers can only do what the coordinators have set up for them to do. Each day that I volunteered for the 2008 tax season (I admit I only volunteer 2 days, each time was at Madisonville), Melissa*, the site coordinator, was there early to set up all the materials, computers, get the patrons ready by having them fill out prep paper work, get the volunteers set up, and brought food for us (which was very much needed and appreciated).

Melissa really helped me get orientated to this environment and she was always helping me when I had a question about something. She was being pulled in a hundred different directions, but made sure the patrons were the top priority and made sure we were able to help everyone that came. The other volunteers were also extremely helpful to me. I don’t think I would have gotten through that first day without them. We relied on each other and helped each other when we had questions or needed a return checked. We are each other’s support.

It’s kind of an odd experience doing someone’s taxes. They are giving some of their most personal information to you and trusting you with that. Whenever I did someone’s taxes, it felt weird because they would be watching me the whole time (which they should). I felt like I was under a microscope, with someone watching over my shoulder the whole time, just waiting for me to mess up and prove me a phony. I didn’t want to tell people it was my first year doing taxes, because then they would worry that I wouldn’t know what to do and I didn’t want them to feel like their trip there was a wasted effort.

Though I did pass the certification tests and knew how to do a basic return, there was still some learning curve to doing taxes. I only knew about tax forms I was familiar with, which was basically just W-2’s. I have never owned a house and I’m not retired, so I had to learn the different types of income and expense forms. It’s different from reading about something in a book and seeing it in real life. The hardest thing about learning how to do taxes is not what all is involved in completing a return; it’s where to enter it in the tax software. The computer can calculate everything for you and kind of “dummy-proof” it somewhat, but I still needed to know the exact line to actually enter real estate taxes, for example. I think it took me 1 ½ to 2 hours for me to complete each return on that first day (it now takes me about half that time).

Although the thrill of learning is what originally interested me in doing taxes, the people are what kept me doing it. The people that came in to get their taxes done truly touched my heart, and made me grateful that I was a small part in making them happier. I don’t remember everyone I helped last year, but a few did stick out in my mind. One couple I remember was Mr. & Mrs. Wilson*. They were probably the third or fourth return that I did. He was retired and she was still working. They were very sweet and had the most trusting faces. They had a bit of an age gap between them and when I saw Mr. Wilson’s birth date, I was taken off guard. Not because I thought he was really old (which he was about the same age as my grandma), but I just thought about all the things he would have went through and witnessed in his lifetime. This was an African-American man born during the Great Depression. He lived through WW2, Civil Rights era (was alive during Martin Luther King Jr.’s life) and the Vietnam War. He lived most of his life before I was even conceived. All the things that I read about in history books—this person has lived through them and experienced them in a different way than what my parents and grandparents would have. And I know there are a lot of people still living that have gone through these things as well, but just seeing it there on paper and having him sit there right next to me kind of awed me. Yet they were probably some of the most patient and kind people that I had helped through my entire tax experience.

The second time I did taxes last year, which was a couple of weeks later, Mrs. Wilson came back with her grandson so he could get his taxes done, too. He was a junior or senior in high school and it was his first year filing taxes, with the W-2 from his first job. I thought it was really awesome for family generations to connect in that way and I thought it was very respectable that Mrs. Wilson would help her grandson begin to do things for himself. I connected with him because I remembered when I filed my first tax return with the W-2 from my first job, as well.

Another person that stuck out in my mind was a single mom, whose name I can not remember. She qualified for the Earned Income Credit and was able to get back about 2 ½ months worth of income back from her taxes. I was glad she was able to get that much back because she seemed like a hard working person just trying to take care of herself and her kids.

I just think it’s pretty awesome that someone can get a check from the Federal Government worth over two months of income. That, right there, makes all my efforts worthwhile. Even though I was only able to volunteer 2 days last year, I knew I wanted to do taxes again in 2009. Look for more entries on each day that I volunteer this year.

*Names have been changed to protect identity.