You know something strange is happening when a group of people who have never paid taxes before turn up at tax time and demand to pay back taxes – going all the way back to 1992. That’s what happened this spring as Puente staff and volunteers sat down to process tax returns. Of the 72 participants who showed up to take advantage of Puente’s pro bono tax services, some were first-timers who had lived for years in the area as undocumented residents but had never filed a tax return, says Puente Program Director Rita Mancera. “They brought all their W2s and all these old, crusty papers. They said. ‘If I have to pay anything, I want to pay it now.’” Mancera attributes this turn of events to the eagerness with which hundreds of South Coast residents would like to obtain legal status in America. They’re approaching Puente for help because they want to create a paper trail in anticipation of immigration reform. “People keep asking, ‘Should I do my taxes?’ We tell them that now more than ever it’s important, because that’s one of the first things they’re going to ask people to provide – copies of their income tax returns,” Mancera says. As Congress gears up to debate the prospect of offering legal status to as many as … Continue reading Bolstering Puente’s income tax services