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What I Learned by Preparing 1,000 Tax Returns

What I Learned by Preparing 1,000 Tax Returns

Last updated on: March 21, 2025 at 11:44 am by Larry Jordan

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What I Learned by Preparing 1,000 Tax Returns 2025-03-21T11:44:26-05:00 Larry Jordan

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These are tough times to be poor.

These are tough times to be poor. One-third of us cannot find $400 in a crisis.. Image from StockCake/AI-generated, in the public domain

One-third of us cannot find $400 in a crisis. Image from StockCake/AI-generated, in the public domain

In The Way, I describe my experience preparing federal income tax returns for low- and moderate-income families. Since 2012, I prepared over 1,000 tax returns. Of course, taxes are personal, and you can learn a lot about a person in 30 seconds:

“This is my W-2. I made a lot of money until I got fired. This is my 1099-MISC. After I got laid off, I worked construction. This is my 1099-G. After my savings ran out, I collected unemployment. This is my 1099-R. After my bills piled up, I cashed out my retirement savings.”

The Federal Reserve Board says that one-third of Americans cannot find $400 in a crisis. People with jobs may not have secure jobs, and people with secure jobs may live paycheck to paycheck. Also, many employers do NOT offer health insurance or retirement benefits, and many employees can NOT afford to contribute to health insurance or retirement anyway.

Many people work as contractors, they do NOT work regularly, they do NOT receive benefits, and they must pay their income taxes plus their self-employment taxes.

Beliefs and Facts

My previous posts have been factual, and they have not drawn much fire from folks on either side. When you think about it, wars are always fought over beliefs; wars are never fought over facts. Alternative facts, fake news, Facebook rants and Twitter/X wars are all about beliefs, not facts.

At one site, many of the taxpayers are immigrants, including some who are documented and some who are not. It might shock you to know that undocumented immigrants pay taxes, but they do, and many work several jobs. Also, they pay into Medicare and Social Security, although they are NOT eligible to receive the benefits.

Most of us are surrounded by folks who act like us, look like us, talk like us and think like us. We assume that there is something good or normative or reasonable about us; maybe not about them. So, we judge ourselves (us) by our intentions, but we judge others (them) by their actions. Us and them.

Us and Them

I have seen poverty and I have seen wealth. I was always the same guy with the same character who made the same choices. There is no reason to demonize or lionize either the poor or the rich.

Whether we are rich or poor has as much to do with chance and circumstance as with choice and character. So, was I “rich” because I worked harder or because I had better luck? Yes and yes. Some poor folks underestimate the importance of effort. Some rich folks underestimate the importance of luck.

When I was one of the 1%, I used to think that there were “makers” and “takers.” The makers (us) worked and paid taxes, while the takers (them) loafed and collected benefits. Then, I met an undocumented immigrant working three jobs with no benefits and no security. Then, I met a working mother who had to choose between paying her rent and paying her health insurance.

Actually, most of the takers that I have known were investment bankers on Wall Street. They were “masters of the universe” until they were convicted of bid-rigging, bribery, conspiracy or fraud. Sadly, I know even more about financial crimes (as an observer, not a participant) than I know about poverty.

Character and Choice

I used to think that poverty did NOT exist in my community. Then, I saw that half of the children in Texas rely on CHIPS and Medicaid and that most of our students rely on free lunch programs. Then, I met homeless people living behind a restaurant or in an encampment or under a bridge in my neighborhood.

I used to think that everyone should work. Then, I met a single father tending to his dying daughter. And, I met an Army veteran with Agent Orange exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder. Then, I met a man with an obvious disability, like paraplegia, or a hidden disability, like narcolepsy.

I used to think that everyone who wants to work can work. Here is an experiment to test that theory—go to a job interview with a cane. Tell them that you can work; you are “only” 10% disabled. Keep limping into interviews until you get a job. Let me know when you get chosen.

“Choice” can be a loaded word, and choice can work both ways. We can choose to go to work. Will that employer choose us? We can choose to attend a private school. Will that school choose us? We can choose to buy health insurance. Will that insurer choose us? These are tough times to be poor.

Worse, when we talk about “choice,” we wrongly assume that everyone has the luxury of a choice. Is it really meaningful to provide a choice for good healthcare or retirement options or schools, if we are only providing “choices” to those who already have them and can afford them?

These Are Tough Times to Be Poor

There are many places in the world that lack the public services that are essential to success. There are many places in the USA that lack the public services that are essential to success.

These are tough times to be poor. These are tough times to be an immigrant, to be disabled, to be sick, or to be unemployed, too.

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The Way received a 2024 Nautilus Book Award.

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About Larry Jordan

Larry Jordan is a follower of Jesus with a Zen practice. He wrote “The Way,” informed by the Eastern religions, the mystics, and the quantum physicists. "The Way" won a 2024 Nautilus Book Award. You can read more about the author here.

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