Taxing

It’s Friday night and instead of sipping on a cocktail at happy hour, I am sifting through tax regulations.

My volunteer gig for this spring is with the Dallas Community Tax Centers – a non-profit which provides free tax preparation services to low and moderate income individuals.

I worked with a similar VITA program in Minneapolis.

Taking advanced tax law classes at night after work was very draining. It made me rethink my perennial flirtation with getting a second degree.

Four years of night classes to get an MBA?

My fellow volunteers are mostly CPAs, finance professionals, and attorneys, which is why the diversity of the tax training classes was fascinating. The classes had a pretty even mix of blacks, Asians, and Hispanic volunteers.

There were no white non-Hispanic volunteers in class, and women outnumbered men 4 to 1. Perhaps it’s just the evening training session schedule that I chose.

I really liked the laid-back mood of the classes too.

Like some shared hazing experience, we all grappled with forms, tax schedules, and worksheets together.

IRS Booklet 6744 at tax law training.

Tax law training at Dallas Community Foundation.

My first volunteer sessions are this weekend, so hopefully I retained most of my tax knowledge from law school.

Good thing someone’s double-checking my work.