On Saturday, individuals and families began to trickle in to the downtown Aurora campus of Waubonsee Community College to have their taxes prepared free of charge.
Although this past Saturday was relatively quiet, large crowds will begin to appear by mid- to late February, organizers of the program said.
Nine clients were served who received refunds totaling $45,000, according to Ne’Keisha Stepney, Waubonsee Community College’s assistant dean for Business and Career Technologies.
Of that amount $23,292 was based on the Earned Income Tax Credit, she said.
Last year, through a cooperative effort between volunteers from the Center for Economic Progress and Waubonsee Community College’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, 1,044 returns were prepared free of charge in Aurora, said David Marzahl, president of the Center for Economic Progress.
He said the program brought “$2.1 million in refunds back to the community.”
To qualify for free taxation preparation, earnings must be below $25,000 for individuals and $50,000 for families.
Started in Aurora in 2005, by Waubonsee accounting faculty members, today students from a tax and procedure accounting class partner up with volunteers to work on the tax returns.
Last year, the Center for Economic Progress prepared 18,634 returns across the state, bringing back $32.7 million in refunds.
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“In our 25-year history, we’ve returned $565 million in refunds to low-income families,” Marzahl said.
A goal of the nonprofit is to give low-income individuals the same opportunities as middle and upper class individuals to have access to financial services providers.
“We want to move them to the financial mainstream and avoid predatory financial service providers,” Marzahl said.
Previously working 60-plus hours per week as a partner in a Naperville-based accounting firm, Naperville’s Brenda DeGeer, who is now retired, volunteers for the Center for Economic Progress about 60 hours per tax season.
She lends a hand teaching other volunteers how to prepare taxes and also reviews completed tax returns with the client and volunteer tax preparer.
When coming to have their tax return prepared, many are unaware that they may be entitled to a refund under the Earned Income Tax Credit which gives credits to low-income earners, DeGeer said.
Encouraged by his sister to help prepare taxes for low-income individuals, Geneva resident Vince Reinhardt first reaction was “I don’t like forms, why would I do that.”
Despite his hesitation, Reinhardt, a retired chemical engineer, tried it and got hooked. Reinhardt has volunteered for the Center for Economic Progress for the last 12 years.
Now he has repeat clients who greet him at the grocery store remembering he as the one who completed their taxes.
When a taxpayer comes in leery, apprehensive and stressed out and leaves with a smile on their face, it is a nice thing, he said.
Going through the training helped Reinhardt learn more about taxes, which he found interesting.
“I don’t talk much about football, so now I can always talk about taxes,” he said.
Cathy Janek is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News
Free tax return preparation
Where: Waubonsee Community College, 18 S. River St., Aurora
When: Running through April 16, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.
What to Bring: All W-2s and 1099s (if any); Social Security cards or Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers for all family members; valid photo ID; copy of last year’s tax return, if available; bank account number and routing number to direct deposit your refund; property tax bill; amount spent on college expenses; proof of health insurance coverage or Certificate of Exemption