Tax Volunteering

[bobm]

AAUW has a free tax preperation service for those individuals that have a fairly simple tax return at the local Public Libraries, but can't afford a tax preparer. My wife and I volunteer 2 days per week at our local library. We have 5 retired CPAs that prepare the tax returns, my wife then performs the quality control for each return. My duties are to check in the tax payers, make sure that they have their photo IDs and SS cards, as well as all necessary tax paperwork for themselves as well as all claimants for them, Then assign their case to the CPAs. When the tax return is prepared and quality control is complete and sent to IRS electonically, I send the paperwork to be processed . We havea large room reserved at our local library for Fridays from 1-5 , and Saturdays from 10-2. The library unbenown to us untill yesterday , reserved our room to the "Historical Society" for this Saturday at 12. The higher ups agreed to the hour change. I turned away 11 tax payers due to the change in our hours of operation. Then about 11:40, a lady from the Hisrotical Society came in to tal to me, and while we were talking, others from the historical Spciety came in to move tables and chairs, and remove our equipment. I put a stop to that since they were disturbing the tail end of the tax payers preperation. They became quite rude, vociferous and demanded that we be completely out by 12 NOON on the dot. Since when does the historical society take preservation of the representatives of the Federal 'Government and their discharge of their duties when we were almost done with the tax returns. Since their actions and disturbances were disterbing the tax payers was then tacking longer to provide our services, I asked them to leave the room and to be patient for a few more minutes. They started to be even more beligerent at which point I told them that they are violating the tax payers civil rights and to leave the room untill everyone's tax returns were finished. No luck... So we had to shut down and ask the tax payers to return next Friday or Saturday to finish their tax returns. It seems like the historical society has a God Given right to push their weight around. Great Ha ???

 

[so lucky]

Our regional library donates a room for this free service too. They override our yoga class. But I know it is a valuable and needed service. I can't imagine a scene like that happening in our little town. Sorry you had to go through that, particularly since everyone is volunteering their time.
But you gotta watch out for those historical types. They go from historical to hysterical in a New York minute.

 

[Collector]

@bobm well that sucks. I guess history won’t wait for tax season to be over. That to bad people had to be inconvenienced.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

idiotic woman...sheesh...

 

[bobm]

Here is just one example of the historical society throwing their waight around. One of my cousins and his wife purchased a 100 year old 2 story brick house in a Chicago neighborhood that at the same time the historical society declared their neighborhood a historical district. This house needed lots of remodeling and repair. Enter the histerical society and their demands that always delayed any removal of anything that needed to be made and streatched out the work for months on end at every twist and turn. My cousin said that the delays and demands of needless strucktural engineer drawings, leangthy city engineer reviews followed by city beurocracy for work permits, then down time waiting for building inspectors to sign off on any one work project at a time done, turned into a ten year remodel project that cost 3X the origianal cost estimate and the final insult was that his wife filed for divorce due to financial issues causing great stress.

 

[catjac1975]

AAUW has a free tax preperation service for those individuals that have a fairly simple tax return at the local Public Libraries, but can't afford a tax preparer. My wife and I volunteer 2 days per week at our local library. We have 5 retired CPAs that prepare the tax returns, my wife then performs the quality control for each return. My duties are to check in the tax payers, make sure that they have their photo IDs and SS cards, as well as all necessary tax paperwork for themselves as well as all claimants for them, Then assign their case to the CPAs. When the tax return is prepared and quality control is complete and sent to IRS electonically, I send the paperwork to be processed . We havea large room reserved at our local library for Fridays from 1-5 , and Saturdays from 10-2. The library unbenown to us untill yesterday , reserved our room to the "Historical Society" for this Saturday at 12. The higher ups agreed to the hour change. I turned away 11 tax payers due to the change in our hours of operation. Then about 11:40, a lady from the Hisrotical Society came in to tal to me, and while we were talking, others from the historical Spciety came in to move tables and chairs, and remove our equipment. I put a stop to that since they were disturbing the tail end of the tax payers preperation. They became quite rude, vociferous and demanded that we be completely out by 12 NOON on the dot. Since when does the historical society take preservation of the representatives of the Federal 'Government and their discharge of their duties when we were almost done with the tax returns. Since their actions and disturbances were disterbing the tax payers was then tacking longer to provide our services, I asked them to leave the room and to be patient for a few more minutes. They started to be even more beligerent at which point I told them that they are violating the tax payers civil rights and to leave the room untill everyone's tax returns were finished. No luck... So we had to shut down and ask the tax payers to return next Friday or Saturday to finish their tax returns. It seems like the historical society has a God Given right to push their weight around. Great Ha ???

Who ever runs the library should have handled it.

 

[baymule]

Who ever runs the library should have handled it.

I think you should complain to the Librarian. Failing that to get any result, write a letter to the local paper explaining in great detail how those members were terribly rude and violated the civil rights of the people you were trying to help.

 

[bobm]

AAUW is contacting the library supervisor and requesting that if they are to lend out a meeting room, that they give us at least one hour time frame beyond our alloted time since some tax return interviews take longer than anticipated, quality control time followed by electronic filling, then shut down all computers and place them into a locked safe. Then take down all tables and chairs and take them into the storage room. We will see......

 

[Zeedman]

Regardless of the scheduling conflict - which is not a minor issue - the representatives of the incoming meeting have NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to be handling your property. Taxpayer info is highly confidential, your clients are entitled to having their personal info protected from prying eyes. Too bad you didn't have an attorney present, I would have paid to watch the fireworks.

If library management chooses to make a scheduling change, it is incumbent upon them to give you notice well in advance. After that (or absent that) whatever time you have reserved, is yours & yours alone - every minute of it. The next meeting can arrange the room as they see fit, but on their time, not yours. History is immutable... it isn't going to change if they wait a little longer.