For the last several years I have volunteered at a non-profit called Prepare and Prosper. They do taxes and offer financial services to lower income people at no cost. The services they offer include opening accounts for people who aren’t able to get a regular checking account, and financial coaching through their money mentors program. They are a fabulous organization who are doing good work for people, and full of many awesome volunteers who are doing that work.
Of course, with the pandemic everything changed. The emphasis shifted to helping people do taxes themselves online as in person tax prep became dangerous.
Tax prep services are funded partly through the VITA program— an IRS program that provides grants to non-profits who do free tax services. Taxes, after all, are something that is legally required for most people in the United States.
I personally think taxes and finances is something that doesn’t get the attention as a social justice issue it deserves. Also a lot of people are scared of taxes and don’t take the time to understand them. Tax policy doesn’t emerge from thin air fully fledged and passed down upon tablets. It is created by people, and in the Untied States tax policy is used to encourage or discourage certain behavior and reinforce social norms. Someone who has money can hire professionals to go through the tricky task of navigating the system. People with little money who fill out a form wrong often don’t have the resources to hire someone. Those with power and money lobby to change the tax code in their favor. Financial literacy and access to financial tools is not readily available to lower income or marginalized groups. It is very expensive to be poor in the United States.
Prepare and Prosper is a good organization doing good work, that deserves support to continue that work even in trying times.