Thursday, February 16, 2006
Tax Help New Mexico - First Day
Well, Monday was my first day as a volunteer. The Volunteer Coordinator said he would call me about setting up my schedule.
Monday morning I got a calll from my wife saying the the volunteer coordinator had called for me at home. They were swamped and needed me to com in and help.
I did not understand her message though and thought that he just wanted me to call him to set up my schedule.
I was near the office so I figured I'd stop by and see him instead of calling. When I got there he pretty much said "You can use this computer, Please help this gentleman with is tax return.
Surprise!
So I buckeled down and got started. He only had Social Security income, no W2's no 1099's. I ended taking almost an hour getting his taxes done. The client was elderly, friendly and very patient with me.
I saw two more clients. One had worked but did not have a W2. He had SSI income and they did not tell me he had worked until I was almost finished. As he was elderly I did not think to ask. Stupid me.
Turns out that he had worked for a ranch out of state that hired mainly migrant workers. English was hs second language. One pf the other volunteers who knew what she was doing referred him to an employment counselor who got on the telephone with the employer to make sure he got his W2.
The third client was not happy because she felt tat the tax return was not big enough. She said that someone she knew with the exact same income had gone to a paid service and had gotten $100 more. She was disabled. I had the other volunteers check my work and they said the tax return looked right to them. We ended up giving her a copy of the return to take home with her so she could compare it to hers friend's return.
Well I guess 1 outta 3 ain't bad for a rookie.
We set up a regular volunteer schedule for me to work 1 day a week (fridays).
Lets hope I can improve my batting average.
Grier Daniels
Monday morning I got a calll from my wife saying the the volunteer coordinator had called for me at home. They were swamped and needed me to com in and help.
I did not understand her message though and thought that he just wanted me to call him to set up my schedule.
I was near the office so I figured I'd stop by and see him instead of calling. When I got there he pretty much said "You can use this computer, Please help this gentleman with is tax return.
Surprise!
So I buckeled down and got started. He only had Social Security income, no W2's no 1099's. I ended taking almost an hour getting his taxes done. The client was elderly, friendly and very patient with me.
I saw two more clients. One had worked but did not have a W2. He had SSI income and they did not tell me he had worked until I was almost finished. As he was elderly I did not think to ask. Stupid me.
Turns out that he had worked for a ranch out of state that hired mainly migrant workers. English was hs second language. One pf the other volunteers who knew what she was doing referred him to an employment counselor who got on the telephone with the employer to make sure he got his W2.
The third client was not happy because she felt tat the tax return was not big enough. She said that someone she knew with the exact same income had gone to a paid service and had gotten $100 more. She was disabled. I had the other volunteers check my work and they said the tax return looked right to them. We ended up giving her a copy of the return to take home with her so she could compare it to hers friend's return.
Well I guess 1 outta 3 ain't bad for a rookie.
We set up a regular volunteer schedule for me to work 1 day a week (fridays).
Lets hope I can improve my batting average.
Grier Daniels
# posted by Dan @ 9:33 PM 
