Magnifisyncopathological

Community Tax Centers offer free income tax help

Community Tax Centers will offer free income tax preparation to individuals and families with low incomes at six convenient locations in Austin beginning Jan. 21, 2006.

Last year, Community Tax Centers prepared more than 7,400 tax returns that brought back nearly $10 million to the local economy and the wallets of Central Texas families who need it most.

This year, the program plans to nearly double this effort by the time Community Tax Centers close on April 17, completing 14,000 tax returns and bringing back about $18 million to the local economy.

The Community Tax Centers are made possible by major underwriting from the Silverton Foundation and tax center sponsorships from JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

Additional major funders include: City of Austin, Citibank, Bank of America, Washington Mutual, United Way Capital Area and Frost Bank.

Community partners include: 2-1-1 Texas, AISD Family Resource Center, City of Austin-Dove Springs Recreation Center, Community Action Network, Dolores Catholic Church, Financial Literacy Coalition, Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, Internal Revenue Service, Travis County, and WorkSource.

In-kind support was provided by Castleview Productions and Travis County.

Government forces us to pay taxes to pay for those services.

Poor people tend to rely on those services more than others.

People begin to realize paying taxes is annoying, expensive, and a pain in the ass.

People hire specialists to help in the preparation of their taxes.

People also realize that poor people are hit hard by taxes, especially the sales and property variety.

Special exemptions, deductions, and credits are written into the tax code to ease the burden on the poor.

The poor now face a very complicated tax-calculating season but have trouble affording professional help.

People start demanding tax help services be more available so the poor can claim their legal tax privileges.

Government begins lending tax-financed resources to efforts made to that effect.

Now the poor can better claim their tax exemptions, deductions, and credits.

*pause*

Thus, in order to provide services to the poor, government imposes taxes on everyone. But since the poor have trouble affording their taxes, the government decided to grant them certain privileges. But the poor need help in preparing their taxes to get these privileges and might have trouble hiring specialists. So the state's services expand to include tax assistance, thereby guaranteeing the tax revenue generated off the labor of the poor will decrease. But the state's services need to be paid for, so the share burdened by everyone else increases.

Please forgive this individualist propertarian for thinking this system is hopelessly, hilariously flawed.