For many people, completing federal and state income tax forms can be daunting. In the northwest suburbs, middle- and low-income seniors can find free assistance from a volunteer program known as TCE, Tax Counseling for the Elderly, sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons.
This group of all volunteer and mostly senior citizen tax counselors can make sense out of the paperwork and countless confusing instruction sheets.
One very busy location is at the Schaumburg Township office at 25 Illinois Blvd. in Hoffman Estates. On Tuesday and Friday mornings from early February through mid-April, an average of 30 people a day come to the TCE counselors for help.
Many of the volunteers are former bankers, accountants or finance officers and are looking for a way to help their fellow senior citizens. Bob Kaminski, 67, of Schaumburg worked as a vice president of Continental Bank (now Bank of America).
“Having been in the business world for over 40 years, I don’t find this a challenge as other people might,” Kaminski said. “I thought that I could pay back some of what I have received. Forms frighten people. The word IRS frightens them too. As for these forms, man created it (and) man can manage it.”
Brian Carey of Schaumburg, director of senior services for Schaumburg Township, is happy to offer his building as a host site.
“In my view, you have two sides of the same coin; a lot of volunteers are seniors. Thus we are using seniors both as a resource and as a service to other seniors,” Carey said. “Seniors are one of the most valuable resources of any community.”
“The personal satisfaction is great,” said Elaine Timm, 74, of Schaumburg, a tax counselor and course instructor. “It warms your heart that so many people are happy that you’ve helped them.”
The statistics are impressive. In 1996, more than 500 people were helped by TCE counselors in Schaumburg Township alone. This year they anticipate more than 600 clients. Nationally 1 1/2 million seniors are helped each year by 31,000 AARP tax aide volunteers at 10,000 sites.
“The accuracy of returns done by our volunteers is 96.8 percent, which is extremely high and better than most other advisory services,” said Fritz Miller, 80, of Bartlett, district coordinator for TCE.
Kaminski is also an instructor for the annual training each counselor must undergo to be recertified. Kaminski said they have one week of classes and then take an eight-hour open-book test.
Timm said the volunteers receive the text about six weeks in advance of the course and put in a lot of time before it even begins. “We spend about 60 hours studying tax laws, especially those that affect the elderly,” Timm said.
Miller’s territory includes TCE sites in Schaumburg Township, Dundee Township, Carpentersville, Hanover Township and Bloomingdale. Like the other tax counselors, he has a background in finance, retiring after 42 years as the vice president of finance for the Milwaukee Road.
“In my case, the Lord had been exceedingly good to me through the years, and I would like to pass it on to someone else so they could benefit from what I do and what I know,” Miller said.
Miller said the group has received favorable reviews from the local and national Internal Revenue Service offices.
The volunteers spend a concentrated time in midwinter working on income-tax matters, but “we are on call all year round,” Miller said. “If a person gets a notice from the IRS during the year, they can contact the Schaumburg center and we will follow up.”
About 20 years ago, the late Mary Buhler of Schaumburg became aware of a national program for senior citizen tax assistance. She started the group in Schaumburg, which has evolved into TCE. A tax program had been created by AARP in 1968, and TCE was started under a cooperative agreement with the IRS in 1980.
Miller said people come to the TCE site in various stages of preparedness, adding that some people arrive with all their documents still unopened in a shopping bag. “We receive forms in which everything is in order, and in some cases people have done part of it themselves. Others are totally unorganized,” Miller said.
Timm, who retired as a tax accountant from Square D Co. in Palatine, said that “we average about one hour per person, but it could take us the entire day for a more complex case.”
Stella Gotz, 81, of Schaumburg recently took advantage of the TCE service. “It’s a very convenient local service,” Gotz said. “I was very satisfied with it.” In turn, she arranged for a shut-in friend of hers, Vida Clyde, 100, of Schaumburg, to receive assistance. Kaminski went to her home and reviewed her taxes.
“Shut-ins are so thankful for this service,” Timm said. “They are no longer nervous about their taxes afterwards.”
Gerald and Jean McCreary of Hoffman Estates also received help from the TCE counselors at the Schaumburg Township location.
“We’ve got nothing but praise for what they’re doing for the seniors,” said Gerald McCreary. “They deserve a pat on the back.”
Kristina Paul of Schaumburg, an assistant in the senior services department at the Schaumburg Township office, is another advocate of the service. “Our buses pick up (the seniors), and it’s close to home,” she said. “We have some wonderful volunteers, some for over 10 years.
“It makes them feel comfortable because it’s so homey here,” Paul said. “The seniors can get some questions answered by the counselors over the phone. Some of them may not have to file at all.”
Theresa Machlan, 66, of Carpentersville, is a state coordinator for the Tax Aide Program for AARP, which oversees the TCE program. Her main task is to recruit volunteers. “We need more volunteers in certain areas, especially near downtown Chicago,” she said.
Machlan said the counselors are professional in their approach. “They sign a pledge of confidentiality indicating that they will not discuss anyone’s taxes,” she said.
She sees the value for the seniors who are helped as well as those who volunteer. “Seniors are proud,” Machlan said. “Even when you tell them it’s free, they try to give you money. In my experience so far, the counselors try to help seniors more than just doing taxes. They’re a pretty dedicated group of people.”
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Senior citizens who would like to know more about the TCE services or who would like to volunteer to become a tax counselor can call Brian Carey at the Schaumburg Township office at 847-884-0030.
