Paul Heimer didn't study accounting or social work in school. Yet, over the past 13 years, he has been responsible for helping hundreds of people get thousands of dollars worth of income tax refunds.
It all started when Heimer started answering phones at the Alexandria Community Shelter back in 1989. When one of the residents needed help signing in, he realized that the man was illiterate. Having just done his own taxes, Heimer asked the man if he needed help filing his income taxes.
"I figured if the guy can't read, he can't do his taxes," said Heimer, who asked the shelter for permission before he proceeded. Both Heimer and the man were pleasantly surprised when the tax return yielded a refund of about $400. Heimer was hooked.
"I thought, now I've done something that's really helpful. It always feels good when you help somebody," said Heimer, who began a crusade of helping people in shelters all over the area. He started recruiting volunteers to help, and before long, they were completing 275 to 300 returns a year. He continued to volunteer with the Alexandria Community Shelter and then moved onto the Arlington/Alexandria Coalition. He also spent four years as a friend of New Hope Housing, until he left to work full-time on the free income tax service.
"Volunteers are the key to this," said Heimer.
ONE OF THOSE VOLUNTEERS, Kathy Collins, works full-time for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but still finds time to help.
"I volunteer wherever I'm needed. It's a great program," said Collins who volunteers once every other week at the Alexandria facility.
"People are always waiting in line, we have to turn people away and ask them to come back," said Collins. Most of the returns are handled right away; only a few have to be deferred if they don't have all the information.
"They're usually pretty straight-forward; somebody who works as an independent contractor might have a more complicated return. However, the majority of people can literally sign the refund, walk out the door and put it in the mail."
Sometimes the hardest thing is just trying to determine the filing status of the family. Collins does try to educate people so that they know what to do for the next year. Collins is an accountant, but volunteers do not have to have an accounting background to volunteer. Heimer provides a full day of training at the beginning of the year for all the volunteers.
Collins credits Heimer with keeping the program going, and said, "Paul has had a passion for this for so long."
Collins finds the work very rewarding and told the story of a woman who came in to have her tax return done. She was a single parent with three children and brought her daughter with her to interpret (interpreters are also provided at the agencies).
"When she found out that she was getting a $2,000 refund, she cried. It was very rewarding," said Collins.
CARLTON POWELL has had his taxes done by Heimer for the past several years. He appreciates the service because he used to have to pay for a tax service before.
"He helped me out a few times," said Powell.
While Heimer continues to provide service to residents at New Hope Housing, he also operates out of Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., Alexandria Department of Human Services and Lorton Community Action Center.
He said that there are a number of reasons why people don't file. Sometimes they have a problem with their documents catching up with them because they move so often. Other times, they are afraid; they might have missed a year and they worry that they will get in trouble.
The good news is that while some people do have to pay, more often than not the volunteers will determine that money is due to a family; an average refund is $1,450. This is due in large part to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which is a federal income tax credit for low-income workers who are eligible for and claim the credit. The credit reduces the amount of tax an individual owes and may be returned in the form of a refund. Heimer said that this is the largest Federal government program to help people and often goes unclaimed.
"It's been a lot of fun," he said.
For more information call 703-836-3407, or email Heimer at ball-heim@comcast.net.