Tax Season: Resources and Talking Points

“…but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin

This post is a collaborative effort by Higher and Erin Voorheis, Employment Specialist with Catholic Charities, Migration & Refugee Services in Arlington, VA. Read more for Erin’s take on why our clients deserve our help with taxes, some resources and suggested talking points. Thanks, Erin!

An Employment Specialist’s Perspective

As April approaches now is the time to explain taxes to our clients. For my non-accountant-personality this is as much fun as dental work. But it is necessary. Looking around my home office, I have my tax paperwork out and I’m organizing my family’s documents so that I can get ready to file our taxes on time. Surely, my clients deserve to have adequate time and understanding to prepare their taxes, (possibly for the first time) as well.

Truthfully, instructing our clients about taxes did not even cross my mind. April 15th is such a regular occurrence in my calendar that I automatically begin gathering my paperwork, printing off statements, looking for receipts around the end of January, much like I routinely pull out season clothes and pack away clothes from the season past. I don’t think much about taxes-I just know I need to file them. One of my clients recently mentioned that we should provide training on taxes. And we should. What is routine, (if painstaking) to us, is anything but routine for our clients.

Resources and How Erin Used Them

Here are a few resources I emailed to my clients for explaining our tax system (and one more from Higher):

1. One from How Stuff Works, and one from the IRS (click on the side made for “Students.”)

2. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities offers an excellent toolkit with materials you can use to promote the benefits of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and other income and family-size based benefits that most of our clients can get. Click here.

3. Also check local governments and workforce centers for free seminars and free tax help (try searching “Volunteer Income Tax Assistance”). For example, I found this information from Fairfax County, VA.

What to Say to Clients: Talking Points

For those of you whose client base is not loaded with English speaking SIVs like Erin’s, here are some basic talking points.

1. We all must pay taxes every year. To do that, we must all submit a form, called a tax return, by April 15 every year.
2. W-2 forms must be sent to all workers by every source of taxable income by January 21 each year. Be sure clients can identify them and don’t throw them away. Show clients the image in this post so they know what to look for.
3. Tax preparation is free. There are excellent free community tax services that will be sure you get the most money possible in your tax return.
4. Be careful not to break the law about taxes - even by mistake. People may offer to pay in order to add children or other family members onto their tax returns. It could jeopardize their citizenship status later.
5. They will likely get money back. Possibly more than they paid, depending on their eligibility for a number of special tax incentive programs.

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