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VITA - Complete
Apr. 11th, 2009 02:56 pmSo, I have now finished my last Volunteer Income Tax Assistance session. Over the course of three sessions (12 hours) I did about 30 tax returns (federal and state).
I did mostly singles, some head of households, and a couple of married filing jointly returns. I would say the average refund was about 300 dollars, while the average person that had to pay was around 1000 (usually either a crooked employer or a screwed up withholding. There was a lot more money in social security and pensions than in wages, but I suppose that's not unusual when you mostly do returns for older people.
Most of the returns were pretty simply, although a few were a nightmare (one person had lost all of their paperwork, contacted all of the senders, and missed a few; another had a different social security number on almost every single form, all obvious typos). I definitely learned a lot about the earned income tax credit, calculating taxable social security income, and the rules for dependency.
I'm not sure if I'll do it next year or not. It's a ton of work, and the tax season is not conveniently timed against the law school season, but it was a rewarding experience nonetheless. I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad it's done.
I did mostly singles, some head of households, and a couple of married filing jointly returns. I would say the average refund was about 300 dollars, while the average person that had to pay was around 1000 (usually either a crooked employer or a screwed up withholding. There was a lot more money in social security and pensions than in wages, but I suppose that's not unusual when you mostly do returns for older people.
Most of the returns were pretty simply, although a few were a nightmare (one person had lost all of their paperwork, contacted all of the senders, and missed a few; another had a different social security number on almost every single form, all obvious typos). I definitely learned a lot about the earned income tax credit, calculating taxable social security income, and the rules for dependency.
I'm not sure if I'll do it next year or not. It's a ton of work, and the tax season is not conveniently timed against the law school season, but it was a rewarding experience nonetheless. I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad it's done.
