One out of every 3 Americans traditionally wait until April 15 to file their taxes.
Residents of San Francisco and San Jose, California rank high on the list of national “tax procrastinators.” In a survey of states, California ranks 13 with the number of tax procrastinators, while Wyoming and Alaska take the lead.
For San Francisco Bay Area dawdlers, free tax filing help is available via United Way Bay Area. Both in-person and online services are offered to low-income people residing in 8 Bay Area counties. And while many of the sites require an appointment, several sites offer help on a walk-in basis.
No Penalties
More good news: neither the Internal Revenue Service nor the California state Franchise Tax Board will penalize you for filing late if a refund is due. California, in fact, grants an automatic extension to Oct. 15, regardless of whether you are due a refund or owe taxes.
UWBA offers 4 options: self-filing, using the organization’s “Tax Slayer” software; self-filing with virtual help via Zoom; remote assistance in which a tax professional prepares the return; or in-person tax help at any of UWBA’s 30 established sites (several will remain open after April 15). Services are offered in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese. Interpreters can be made available for other languages.
Last year, UWBA served over 35,000 people, who received over $52 million in refunds, said Nicole Harden, UWBA’s Vice President of Economic Success, in an interview with American Community Media.
In-Language Support
”We serve many families, folks that are accessing the earned income tax credit — EIC. We want to make sure that they’re able to get their refunds. And we have services across different kinds of sites. We’re in college locations, community-based agencies that serve families and community, and churches and other local service buildings that provide services to targeted populations,” said Harden. The organization also provides tax services to foreign students.
UWBA’s tax program is staffed by volunteers, who spend weeks learning how to prepare simple tax returns. At the end of their training, volunteers gain the status of certified tax preparers.
“We train our volunteers to be able to answer questions and participate in an intake so that we’re able to glean if people are eligible for other types of credits that maybe they didn’t know about,” said Harden. “Like, are you in school or is your child in school? There’s education credits. We want to make sure that we’re getting the most accurate return and also helping people access the most credits that are available to them.”
IRS Sharing Info with ICE
As of April 7, the IRS has agreed to share information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including names and addresses. Such actions are generally against the law. But under this new provision, data can be shared in some cases without notifying the filer.
Harden believes this will have a chilling effect on the immigrant community, raising concerns among those who have filed. She expects to see a drop-off in filings this year.
Undocumented immigrants use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers — ITINs — to file their taxes. “For decades, there’s been an understanding that ITIN information would not be shared outside of the IRS. And so undocumented immigrants contribute billions in federal, state, and local taxes annually using the ITIN numbers,” said Harden.
Immigrants Are Contributors to Economy
“These taxpayers are vital contributing members of our communities and our economy, and they have been assured by the IRS for decades that their tax information remains confidential. Efforts that discourage them from filing their taxes are not only immoral, they also have a negative impact on the economy. And we remain committed to supporting all community members, including undocumented immigrants, to access the resources they need to achieve financial stability,” she said.
Undocumented immigrants paid almost $97 billion in state and federal taxes in 2022, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That amounts to about $8,889 per person, noted ITEP. California alone raised $8.5 billion in state taxes from undocumented people.
