Before Debbie Lemus retired, she was a registered nurse, administering to patients’ health. Somewhere along the way, she began tending to people’s financial well-being, too.
She’s not a certified public accountant or even a financial whiz. Twenty-two years ago, she wondered if her taxes were getting done properly, so she went to a workshop run by AARP.
She learned what she could deduct, and what she couldn’t, and where she could save money.
Not long after, she began doing the same for other people, helping seniors and low-income people get their taxes done each year.
The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program partners with the Internal Revenue Service, marshaling a group of local volunteers who Lemus said helped about 500 people last year—free of charge. According to AARP, the program helps mobilize 35,000 tax aid volunteers nationally, who serve 2 million people across the country. The program is aimed toward low-income people who may not be able to afford to get a professional to help them.
According to the Rand Corporation, low-income tax filers may be hurt the most if their taxes aren’t done correctly, keeping them out of tax credits they might otherwise be eligible to receive.
“Those with the lowest incomes are not required to file a tax return,” Rand wrote on its website.
For Lemus, the problem isn’t interest in the service she helps provide. It’s a lack of staff.
“We’ve had to turn people away because we don’t have enough volunteers,” she said.
Right now there are about seven volunteers working with Lemus who are available Wednesday and Saturday. For volunteers, she said there’s no barrier to entry.
“You just need to be able to use a computer,” she said, to use a software called TaxSlayer.
The training is simple, encompassing just two days running through the software and learning the basic tax elements of the tax code. She’ll be hosting two days of training on Jan. 22 and 24, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, at the Dick DeWees Community and Senior Center in Lompoc.
She took a week off from work to learn how to help people with their taxes, but she won’t require any volunteers to do the same.
“It’s a low-income service, but it doesn’t always end up that way,” she said. “We’re a free service, and we’re not discriminatory.”
AARP helps her advertise by providing her with posters, which she sticks on bulletin boards at the library and various trailer parks around town. Her name and number are always handwritten at the bottom.
“A lot of people aren’t comfortable doing their own taxes,” she said. So they come to her, ask their questions, and they’re done.
And families come to her asking for earned income credits or education tax credits, or they ask about how to register their children as dependents.
“We complete the form electronically for them, and they just wait for their refund,” she said.
In addition to tax filers, Lemus is looking for greeters, folks who can help people get situated before a volunteer tax filer is available. They don’t need to take the tax test.
For people interested in becoming a volunteer, she said, the test is open book. And if someone is shaky on one thing or another, she’s there to help. She just needs more folks to get involved.
“I even have a gentleman who doesn’t submit his answers online; he submits them to me on paper,” she said.
The test is a basic rundown of everything someone might need to know to get their taxes done.
“It’s a non-threatening environment,” she said.
To sign up to help with tax season, contact Debbie Lemus at (805) 717-1302 or email her at lemuslion@aol.com. Hours for tax help are Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Highlight:
• The Cruzin’ for Life Car Show and Cruise raised $110,000 at September’s event for Marian Cancer Care at Mission Hope Cancer Center. The organization has raised more than $1.3 million for cancer care since 2006.
Staff Writer William D’Urso wrote this week’s Spotlight. Send news tips to spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 19-26, 2019.