In early January, the team at Tax-Aid was in crisis. We needed to upgrade our laptops in order to support the tax preparation software we use at our free community tax sites across the Bay Area. We went to our local nonprofit software resource and were able to acquire a few discounted licenses but we quickly tapped out our yearly allotment. Further licenses would not be available until April 2015 — too late for our organization. To open our tax sites on time, one hundred Windows and Office licenses were needed before February 1st.
We reached out to sf.citi, an organization created to leverage the power of the technology community around civic action in San Francisco. It was sf.citi that connected us directly to Microsoft’s Corporate Citizenship team. Microsoft understood the urgency of the situation and provided an in-kind software grant to Tax-Aid in record time. The new software was uploaded onto the laptops and Tax-Aid’s sites open right on schedule. Microsoft’s generosity saved the day and helped Bay Area families save money by having their tax returns prepared for free.
In 2014 Tax-Aid’s 829 volunteers prepared 5,075 tax returns for clients resulting in over $5.9M in refunds.
Tax-Aid, founded in 1988 by a coalition of Bay Area accountants and lawyers, is on a mission to assist, without charge, low income Bay Area families with the preparation of their tax returns. The average annual gross income of Tax-Aid’s clients is approximately $20,000. Many families with low income depend on their tax refund to pay down debt and build savings for the future. The tax refund is frequently the largest paycheck the family will receive all year and it is not unusual for a Tax-Aid client to receive a refund of over $4,500. The cost of having a tax return prepared can be over $200; a significant expenditure for a family with an annual income of $20,000. Tax-Aid volunteers provide a critical service to the community by offering tax preparation for free.
Do you want to be a hero?
Each tax season Tax-Aid trains and deploys hundreds of volunteers to assist Bay Area families and individuals with low income. Volunteers come from a variety of professional backgrounds. Tax expertise is always needed but there are also opportunities that do not require any technical knowledge. For more information on volunteering with Tax-Aid please visit: http://www.tax-aid.org/tax-volunteers/.
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Jill Sturm is Executive Director of Tax-Aid, the non-profit founded in 1988 by a coalition of Bay Area accountants and lawyers with the mission of assisting, without charge, low income taxpayers in connection with the preparation of their tax returns. Tax-Aid serves clients at 29 community locations in San Francisco, San Mateo, Oakland, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Alameda County. For more information about Tax-Aid, please visit www.tax-aid.org.
