Volunteers help neighbors prepare taxes

MOSES LAKE — For Jeanette Entz, there are two simple rules for helping people with their taxes.

“You have to enjoy people and you have to be patient,” she said.

Entz is sitting at a table in the Moses Lake Senior Center on a Tuesday afternoon, taking a breather. She’s a volunteer with the AARP Foundation’s Tax-Aide program here, evaluating the work of other tax preparers.

The tables are all full, and people are waiting.

But Entz is clear — this crowd is nothing.

“This is not busy,” she said. “Often we have 40 people waiting, maybe two or three hours.”

“But today, the wait is short,” she added.

Entz is one of 17 volunteers helping people fill out and file their tax returns this year as part of the 52-year-old Tax-Aide program, which helps anyone regardless of how old they are or how much money they make, though there are some limits on the kinds of tax returns Tax-Aide volunteers are able to prepare.

“We help anybody, but we focus on middle and low-income people, with an emphasis on seniors,” she said. “We don’t do farms, we don’t do rentals as a business. We do sales of stocks and homes, royalties, and we can do itemized deductions, which aren’t many anymore thanks to the new tax law.”

Tax-Aide volunteers are at the Moses Lake Senior Center every Tuesday and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. until the filing deadline of Wednesday, April 15, Entz said. In addition, they are also at the Ephrata Senior Center on Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. by appointment and at the Grand Coulee Senior Center on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Returns are filed via computer by IRS-trained volunteers who have to pass an exam, Entz said. Last year, Entz said AARP volunteers in Moses Lake filed around 500 returns and generated $500,000 worth of refunds.

“Income tax is very complicated and it can be expensive for people to have their returns done,” said William Nogle, a tax counselor and Tax-Aide program coordinator for Grant County. “A lot of the people we see have modest incomes.”

Like Gisel Badillo, a 21-year-old Walmart employee who decided it was time to get her tax return filled out and filed.

“Well, I have been procrastinating with my taxes,” she said. “So, I’m here today to get my taxes done. Before it’s too late.”

Badillo said this is the first time she’s had her taxes done by the Tax-Aide volunteers, and she’s pleased with the results.

“I think it’s really nice,” she said. “There’s other places that charge a lot of money, and they don’t here. That’s really nice.”

“They do a good job,” agreed 39-year-old Ryan Pollock, who sat waiting for his return to be reviewed. “It’s nice to have people who can do this.”

Volunteer preparers see helping people with their taxes as a way to stay active and involved in the community, as well as another way to help their neighbors.

“I enjoy the people,” said Entz, a retired teacher. “In the winter, it gets me out of the house. I just enjoy it. I always enjoyed math.”

Fran Bill, 91, has been a Tax-Aide volunteer for 31 years. She said she started because her husband died and she needed something to do, but finds that she has enjoyed getting to know people over the years and continually learning about changes in the tax code.

“I volunteer two days a week at church, and two days here,” she said “I find things to keep busy. I like people, and I like to meet new people.”

“It’s good to help people,” said first-year volunteer preparer Roger Nelson. “That’s why I came here, to give back to the community.”

Del Chase, 84, who has been a Tax-Aide volunteer for 23 years, agrees — it’s all about the people.

“And the people is what we do it for,” he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.