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Tax-Aid Clinic
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Students have the opportunity to earn course credit through the Tax-Aid Clinic, a nonprofit organization with centers in San Francisco, Oakland, East Palo Alto, Redwood City, and San Rafael. Tax-Aid is supported by CPA firms and KPMG, as well as numerous corporations and foundations.During tax season, LLM Tax students can earn 1-2 units of course credit for their training and volunteer time at the Tax-Aid. A training session is mandatory.No letter grades are given for the Tax-Aid Clinic; students receive Credit/No Credit grades for their participation. For every 20 hours of volunteering, they can receive 1 unit of course credit, up to a maximum of 2 units.
What Is Tax-Aid?
Tax-Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1988 by a coalition of accountants and lawyers. Its mission is to provide free income tax return preparation to low-income families throughout the Bay Area. What Impact Does Tax-Aid Have?
In 2005, Tax-Aid prepared 2,995 returns. These taxpayers received over $3,088,800 in refunds that they used for housing, daycare, or to feed and clothe their children. Some refunds were as large as $4,200. Whom Does Tax-Aid Serve?
Tax-Aid's mission is to provide free income tax preparation to low-income families throughout the Bay Area. The program is open to all families and individuals with total gross incomes of less than $36,000.The majority of clients are immigrants who do not speak English or speak English as a second language. Fear and language barriers often keep them from filing their taxes. Many clients are single mothers struggling to stay off welfare. Others are AIDS patients or senior citizens living on fixed incomes. Tax-Aid provides free tax return preparation in their communities and with translation assistance in Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.
One of clients was a single mother of two who hadn't filed tax returns for several years; she feared she owed back taxes and had no money to pay. She was able to get back 150 percent of her annual income through use of the Earned Income Tax Credit. She was so excited and shaking so terribly that she could barely sign the returns. She will be able to make drastic improvements to the quality of her family's life. I will never forget her. . . . This is why the program is here: to help people.
— Gail Myers, Tax-Aid Volunteer
