Why would you possibly put yourself through the hassle of filing a tax return unless you had to or got paid to? Maybe because you are one of the cool kids at The Gwinnett School of Math, Science and Technology, a public charter high school in Lawrenceville. Senior Devneet Singh started the school’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which is sponsored by the IRS and offers free tax help to low-income and disabled people. Between now and April 15, Singh and her fellow student tax preparers will spend their Saturday mornings at a walk-in clinic at Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula helping people file their tax returns, which often yield a refund of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars. Sure, being part of the program looks good on a college application, Singh says. “But you are also turning your knowledge into direct money for someone who could be living paycheck to paycheck. This kind of community service appeals to a lot of volunteers,” says Singh, who hopes to pursue a career in medicine, not accountancy.
Q: Why did you decide to start the program and how does it work?
A: After becoming a certified preparer on my own and seeing the effect of my work, I wanted to expand my reach. Because of the academic rigor of our school, I knew our students would easily certify as tax preparers. I teach most of the tax classes to students, which cover credits, deductions, exemptions and e-filing. There are several certification exams that students have to pass.
Q: Was it hard to get students to sign up?
A: I thought it would be. This is not your traditional club — there are no teams or competitions. To my surprise, a lot of people did sign up. You are not going to find many clubs where you learn a skill and turn around to immediately help people. We have students from all socioeconomic groups at our school. After we advertised this service, we had several school families come to the tax site. That is rewarding, knowing that we are able to help our own community.
Q: Are the folks you assist shocked at how young you are?
A: For sure. They initially may be thinking that we don't know what we are talking about, but once they sit down with us, they can tell that we do. They are always impressed and gracious for the service.
Q: Do you even file your own taxes?
A: Not at the moment because I have no income. However, when I get to college and get a job, I definitely will. One of the big pluses to recruiting student volunteers is when we tell them, "In college, you can file your own taxes and your friends' for free."
Q: Are you nervous that you and the other volunteers are going to screw up?
A: There are several steps of confirmation and we always ask questions, so we are pretty confident. We have two preparers work on the return together. An advanced-level preparer then quality reviews it, to make sure everything is accurate. Then the form is sent to the United Way where there is a review as well. If there is anything wrong, the IRS sends it back without penalty because it was filed through VITA. They understand that we are volunteer preparers and can make mistakes.
Q: Are the taxes fairly straightforward or have you been stumped?
A: The e-filing software we use prompts us to consider certain forms so it does a lot of the work for us. If we have a question, we can ask our site supervisor, a teacher from Georgia Gwinnett College. Each preparer is also provided free text resources through VITA, which we can also consult. We also go to the IRS website.
Q: Have you had fun doing taxes?
A: Because of my gregarious personality, I enjoy meeting new people every Saturday. It's amazingly rewarding to convert a few hours of tax classes into tangible money for our clients. Adults are always helping kids, so it's cool when we reverse that trend as teenagers aiding adults and elderly people. It makes us feel like good members of society.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program offers free tax help to people who generally make $54,000 or less, are disabled or have limited English skills. IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals.
Information: www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-you-by-volunteers
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