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Sid Magdanz, center, helps UNMC employees with their 2002 tax return. |
Magdanz is available to assist UNMC employees every Tuesday through April 8 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Administration Center, Room 2032. Assistance will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
A native of Pierce, Neb., Magdanz has lived in Omaha since the 1960s and has volunteered at UNMC since at least 1992. He began volunteering at various Omaha businesses in 1984 after taking a tax preparation class offered by H&R Block.
“In 1992, I assisted 13 UNMC employees with their returns,” Magdanz said. “These days, I often see that many people in one day, although some of them simply stop by to pick up tax forms.”
Volunteering at UNMC, ENOA
According to Magdanz, he has seen 63 UNMC employees so far this year, with most of those being natives of foreign countries. He also volunteers at the Eastern Nebraska Office On Aging (ENOA), where he has worked with 15 people. This year’s total of 78 is already higher than previous years, although the Internal Revenue Service asks him to count individuals who stop in, even those just needing paperwork.
“I see quite a few foreign exchange people at UNMC and income taxes are a big mystery to oodles of Americans, so you can imagine what it is like to foreigners,” Magdanz said. “The other day, I had a young man from Australia and he said, ‘This is crazy. In Australia, we have two lines!’
“But many of the (foreign) people are very savvy and they’ll come to me with their entire return completed, just to have me look it over to see if it’s right, and it is. Well, there aren’t very many (United States) citizens who can do that.”
Non-resident returns challenging
Despite the large number of foreign returns, Magdanz says his biggest challenge is the fact that the Internal Revenue Service does not provide any training in how to handle non-resident returns.
“They (the IRS) don’t think I should even do them (non-resident returns),” Magdanz said. “The IRS tells me to tell them to go to a paid preparer, but I’ve had people who have been to those places and have been told that even they aren’t sure what needs to be done.”
Tax advice
As far as general tax advice, Magdanz says, “the biggest mistake that taxpayers make is withholding more than they have to.” According to Magdanz, last year the IRS refunded $8 billion, with the average refund being $1,900. “That’s $8 billion of interest-free loan that the taxpayers are giving the federal government.”
“I really get to meet an awful lot of interesting people,” he said. “That’s the attraction in continuing to volunteer my time.”