One man needed his tax return refund to pay rent so he could stay in his apartment through the winter. Another needed it for a deposit on a place to stay. Still others are waiting for the lump sum to fix a car or pay a pile of overdue bills.
For low-income families, tax refunds aren’t about fun or new items. They are about paying for necessities. That is why the Piton Foundation, a private foundation that helps families move out of poverty, started TaxHelp Colorado. The program, which is modeled after one in New Mexico, offers free tax filing for families with a qualifying income of less than $49,000 per year. It expanded to Adams County this year. It expanded to Adams County this year and is running at DeVry University in Westminster through March 12. Both DeVry University and Mountain Range High School students will be on hand to help prepare returns.
TaxHelp Colorado started as a public information campaign 20 years ago, but once organizers began to see lower-income families spending their return on tax help, they decided to take their efforts one step farther, said Diane DiGiacomo, communications director for the Piton Foundation.
“We decided there had to be a better way to help low-income families in Colorado,” she said. “This model made more sense to us.”
So, in 2007, they started helping people with taxes through TaxHelp Colorado at the Community College of Aurora. The program grew to nine sites by last year where volunteers helped more than 4,000 taxpayers claim $8.3 million in refunds. This year, the number of sites more than doubled to 21 sites.
Those looking for help can show up at any time that the program is open. They fill out a four-page interview form to get started and must have tax documents such as W2 forms and 1099s, a photo ID and social security number.
Then, a student works with the clients on a computer to prepare to e-file their returns. Then there is a quality-check process where another person looks over the return once it is complete. Once it’s reviewed, the client gets a copy and the return is e-filed with the IRS. Overall, the process takes about one hour.
The students trained for four weeks and took the IRS certification test to participate. Since the program started at DeVry University on January 29, the students have helped people get $250,000 in refunds, said Beth Rescigno, dean of the DeVry College of Business and Management.
The Piton Foundation estimates 15 percent of eligible taxpayers do not claim the earned income credit, which is mostly what students have been helping their clients do.
“They need it,” said DiGiacomo said. “They have a pile of bills to pay.”
The students like it because it gives them a hands-on opportunity to apply what they have been learning in school.
Kent Arehart is part of the team checking the returns. He has taken two classes at DeVry University and plans to pursue a career as a CPA.
“Any accounting (employee) needs to understand taxes,” he said. “It gives you a good feeling when you can get them a good chunk of money.”
While Arehart has his career goals in mind, the opportunity gives high school students a chance to explore.
“It opens up career and employment opportunities,” said Mountain Range High School accounting and finance teacher Marvin Lewis, who has 12 students who are helping prepare taxes with the program. “But the biggest thing is they’re helping people.”
Whether they peruse the career or not, the Mountain Range students know this is real –life information they’re getting.
“We’re learning how to do our taxes for future reference,” said Mountain Range High School student Shea Munson, a junior in Lewis’ accounting class. “It’s nice to get out there and do volunteer work.”
The only thing they want is more work.
“We need more people to come in so we can help them,” Arehart said. “We know the need is there.”
Above: AmeriCore Volunteers Jacob Lucas left, and DeVry University student Bryan Thompson along with Americore Volunteers, Donte Rawls and Vincent Florentino participate in TaxHelp Colorado on the DeVry University campus last week. Photograph courtesy of Jon Brodhacker, MetroNorth Newspapers
Article courtesy of reporter, Caroline Kipp of the Westminster Window.
