VITA: Retake Money from the Government to Give to the Poor

was my first shot at being a Volunteer Income Tax Assistant. I worked a 9–2 shift and in that span had a chance to help put together four tax returns.

There was some clunkiness to deal with — one of the two printers failed, and we had no network to transfer files with so we had to shuttle diskettes around. But we also had fewer clients than had signed up, which I understand is not unexpected this early in the tax season when some people don’t even have all of their W2 forms and such yet. So we managed to get everybody filed and on their way — and things should go smoother next time now that we know what we’re doing.

The best part of the day for me was seeing the smile on the face of a woman who was getting both the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, which boosted her total refund to something like $4,200. She was very surprised and very happy — I thought she was going to run over and hug me when I handed over her copies of the forms.

afternoon I was part of a Northern California War Tax Resistance panel conducting an introductory workshop for people interested in war tax resistance. It is always encouraging to meet people who are determining to take this stand, and it was especially encouraging at this workshop to see people leaving more energetic and enthused and determined than when they arrived.

We’re hoping to do additional outreach in , when a protest march is scheduled to commemorate , and on when a number of groups will join up for a Tax Day protest.