Volunteers to offer free help with tax preparation at local YMCA

During the 2012 tax season, volunteers helped more than 6,000 Southern Nevada families claim more than $7.2 million in refunds.

Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross is sponsoring another tax volunteer site at the Centennial Hills Community Center YMCA, 6601 N. Buffalo Drive, this season to help low-
income families with their tax preparation for free.

Volunteers are provided with two to three days of training and are asked to work four to five hours each week during the tax season through mid-April.

Ross said he has challenged his fellow City Council members to host a location in their wards for tax preparation.

"The idea is getting that money into the economy and get it back out into our stores," Ross said.

Patrick McCue enjoys tax preparation, which is why he volunteered last year and plans to volunteer again this year. He has always done his own taxes for his family - his children's, his mother's and his sisters' taxes. Since he retired last year, he said he was looking for something to keep him busy.

"It's kind of like Sudoku, you know, a puzzle," McCue said. "I find it interesting."

He said the training is painless and just a matter of learning the Internal Revenue Service's system but he wishes there was more. So McCue is also volunteering with AARP, which has a more extensive tax preparation class, he said. Still, an IRS representative is always there to help him with any questions.

The experience of the volunteers varies from retired accountants to people such as McCue .

"The people themselves are really interesting," he said. "One fella we did had just moved to Nevada this year, so we had to do normal state taxes and for California, Colorado and Indiana, and the system worked pretty well. We got them all filed."

The biggest issue he runs into is when someone forgets to bring in necessary paperwork.

To make the process easier this year, the city will be offering a drop-off service so individuals do not need to sit and wait for their taxes to be processed.

McCue said most people miss a lot of possible credits when they file on their own, and he suggested using the program.

" I was quite impressed by the program because the IRS - for all their gnashing of teeth - they were quite supportive of making people get their returns that people often leave on the table."

Ross said he was the first councilman to embrace the program last year after being approached by the IRS.

"You're doing a good thing -- it's quick gratification," McCue said. "Even the people that have to pay are generally glad that you helped them."

IRS tax consultant Eric McCloud said the volunteer program has been in existence since 1969 but last year was the first at the Centennial Hills Community Center YMCA working with public officials. There are 32 sites around the valley, not including AARP's program.

"There's a total of 300,000 low-income people in Clark County, and along with the AARP, we've only done, I think, about 10,000 returns, so we've only scratched the surface," McCloud said.

"There's a three fold effect for money going back to families, brought back into the community, who then puts money back into the community."

He said the program can be mutually beneficial, training volunteers with marketable job skills during a time when unemployment is higher than past years.

He said that last year, January and February were relatively quiet, and he wished more people took advantage of the program. McCue said the sooner someone files their taxes, the sooner they receive money back if they are eligible for a refund. He said there's no target number of volunteers, and more are always being sought.

For more information on the tax-preparation program or to volunteer, contact Tuesday James at 702-229-5463.

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Laura Phelps at lphelps@viewnews.com or 702-477-3839.