With tax season here, many young people face challenges in understanding taxes and how to file theirs. To help, Andrea Jack of D&P Financial Services and her team led Hopeworks’ 2nd Annual Tax Prep event for Alumni at our office. The firm practices in the areas of tax preparation, accounting, bookkeeping, budgeting, and tax planning, and focuses on helping their clients achieve personal, professional and financial growth.
More than a dozen people attended the event which turned out to be a very successful day, according to Andrea. Before beginning individual tax preparations, Andrea led a group discussion where attendees first learned about the changes made by the current Administration regarding 2019’s tax refunds. She also informed the group on how to better prepare themselves to file for next year. They went over tax credits, deductions, and extensions as well as multiple ways to benefit from saving receipts as proof of payment for work-related expenses such as travel, gas, tools etc.
The firm taught the group that there are differences between return forms (1099, 1098, 1040 etc.), including amounts granted back for people who are single vs married, single parents with dependent children, students, and business owners, as well as independent contractors. Andrea and her team worked with each alumni individually to review the tax prep process. Many alumni left enlightened with first-time understanding of taxes. Others came with some previous understanding but still declared to have left knowing more than before, saying that Andrea was so patient and open to any and every question while sitting with everyone. Overall, Hopeworks alumni were very happy to find out how much money they saved thanks to Hopeworks for providing the tax prep event, and said they look forward to more educational workshops like this one.