Pre-episode Intro

Cody: A number of ways you can e-file, the IRS has fillable forms online that can be e-filed, and these are very much like the paper forms that you would fill out. And other e-filing methods are through tax software’s like Turbo Tax, or H&R Block, or Tax Slayer, Tax Act, there’s a handful of them that, you know, you can buy for a specific price, and they’ll help you e-file your return.

Chris: This is the Penny Forward podcast, a show about blind people building bright futures one penny at a time. I’m Chris Peterson, …

MOe: I’m MOe Carpenter, …

Chris: And Liz Bottner is not able to be here this week because she is at the American Council of the Blind D.C. Leadership Conference advocating for good stuff to happen to the blind community with our federal legislators. Today, MOe and I have Cody Bair on the podcast. Cody is a blind CPA living in Colorado, and we’ll learn more about him from him, but our focus for this episode is taxes from a blind person’s perspective. And an interesting take that we have this year is that we’re lucky to have Cody, who is a blind accountant, to talk about taxes from a blind accountant’s perspective. So, Cody, thanks for being here.

Cody: Awesome. Thank you, Chris. Um, excited to be here, and talk about something that we all have to do whether we enjoy it, as I happen to, or don’t enjoy it, as many of you probably will, (chuckle.) and that’s filing taxes. But first before we jump into some of the topics that I know you want to cover today, Chris and MOe, just give a quick introduction, a little bit of background about myself. I'm a totally blind CPA, um, I've been blind since birth, cause of that is Leber's congenital amaurosis, or LCA, and I got my bachelors in accounting, as well as a masters in taxation, and have been practicing as a CPA for a little over eight years now, and work for a large firm in the Denver area specializing in research and development tax credits. Um, also serve on the Penny Forward board, and am um, the treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. So, am very linked into the blind community through those organizations.

MOe: Now, you said you were a CPA; can you define more of what that means?

Cody: Yeah. So, CPA stands for "certified public accountant." Um, essentially, we're authorized to sign audit reports for audits of financial statements, that's where my practice is, is focused in tax and more specifically, the research and development tax credit, so assisting corporations, and claiming tax credits, as well as documenting, and substantiating those tax credits, and sometimes even defending them upon exam by the IRS.

Chris: Speaking of documentation, I think this is the most painful part of, of doing our tax returns for most of us. Can you give us the quick, short course on the kinds of documents we need, either if we're gonna do our taxes ourselves or send them to a tax preparer of some kind, and uh, maybe where we might go to find those things?

Cody: Yeah. That's a really good question, Chris, and it's gonna differ individual by individual. Um, some people will have more difficult times gathering documents, just based on the, (chuckle.) Sheer volume of things that you need for your taxes. I know for me over the past few years, you know, it's been more of a process just because I've been involved in more things and received more documents than it was maybe when I first got out of college. But, um, the first thing that everybody is likely gonna need for their taxes is their um, W, if you're employed is a W 2, and that should always be received from your employer by the thirty-first of January, and in many cases, you'll get it by that second week of January from a lot of employers. And all employers actually have to mail them, but a lot of companies now provide W2's digitally as well. So, additional documents that you might have depending on your situation are 1099's, and a lot of that, you know, if you have a substantial amount of bank interest, you'll likely receive one, if you have a brokerage account, also likely receive a 1099, as well as if you've performed services for somebody as a independent contractor, they may give you a 1099 as well. Other documents that you would want to have for your taxes are any sorts of receipts for any donations that you made to qualified nonprofits. This is really only applicable if you're gonna itemize your deductions, as well as, um, if you own your house, you would want to have, you would likely receive a 1098 from the company that holds the mortgage on your house, and that shows the amount of mortgage interest you can write off. Again, only applicable if you itemize your deductions. Another thing that's really common for taxpayers, who are individuals, is, um, student loan interest if you have student loans. Again, you'll probably get a 1098, that shows the amount of interest you paid. And then, other than that, just property taxes if you own your home is another common one, um, that you would receive a form for that you would want to include on your tax return if you itemize your deductions.

MOe: Is there a certain way to best organize these documents to get them to our tax preparer?

Cody: A lot of times, if you engage somebody to prepare your return, they're gonna send you sometimes what's called an information request. Some people call it a tax organizer. I think that name's a little more old school, and, that's, it's, an information request, but know that they might refer to it as an organizer. But it's, trying to spend some time in filling out that information request as accurately as you can, and attaching all of your documents along with it. You know, there's probably a lot of questions on that that are "yes" or "no," and putting some thought into them and making sure they're answered correctly is what's really gonna help your tax preparer prepare the return correctly. Another point that I would make on getting documents to your preparer, um, with a lot of documents, a lot of us like to just, you know, attach things to an E-mail and send them. Well, if you've got your W 2, and your 1099's or whatever other documents you may have, they likely have your social security number on them. Sometimes it's masked, but sometimes it's not. So, with that said, e-mailing them probably is not the best thing to do. (Chuckle.) Um, probably better to upload them to a file share site of some sort and send them that ways, for security purposes of your information.

Chris: What are the different methods that people have of filing, and could you kind of organize them, uh, into ways we can do it ourselves, and the kind of people that can help us if we just don't want to?

Cody: The first of those ways is to paper file your return, so you could pull all of the forms that you need from the IRS'S web site. Um, and they're accessible PDF'S, they're fillable, so you could fill them out that way, and then print them, look up the correct address to mail them into, and go to the post office. If you're gonna paper file, just a side note, always mail certified, because, that way, mailing certified, you get receipt that it was received, and that post mark date then serves as your filing date, um, which is key, should there ever be any questions, but an advantage of this method is that it doesn't cost anything, other than, I suppose, the postage that you have to put on your forms to get them to the IRS, I would say. The disadvantage of this method is that paper file takes longer for the IRS to process. Another disadvantage of this method, unless you really know what you're doing in, when filing a return, it's easy to make a mistake in this method. For a lot of people, I think, you know, this just probably isn't the best method. The second way to do your returns by yourself is through E-filing, and there's a number of ways you can E-file. The IRS has fillable forms online that can be E-filed, and these are very much like the paper forms that you would fill out. The advantage here is they'd be processed faster. Still the same disadvantage, though, of, you basically need to really understand what you're doing to utilize this method. And other E-filing methods are through tax software’s like Turbo Tax, or H&R Block, or Tax Slayer, Tax Act, there's a handful of them that, you know, you can buy for a specific price, and they'll help you E-file your return. I myself, even though I know what I'm, how to fill out a tax return, I still use these software’s because I think they're beneficial, and they make it easier and guide you through the process, and they have some internal checks to, you know, make sure that your calculations are right, and that you're getting the right forms attached to the return that need to be attached to the return. Um, and then those are pretty much all of the self-filing methods, and then, as I mentioned before, you can always have somebody else do your return. Um, there's a lot of places that will do returns for free for people with income below sixty-four thousand. Um, specifically Vita, which is a nationally run program that has locations across the country, and those are, you know, people that are volunteers, but go through specific IRS exams to be able to prepare returns, and, so you get a pretty good quality of service, and then there's H&R Block, or Liberty Tax, or any of, Jackson Huette, any of those places can also file a return for you, um, or if you have a more complex return, you would probably want to engage a CPA who would prepare your return for a fee, just because, you know, they have more experience, and more, um, rigorous certification requirements and a deeper technical understanding of the tax law.

MOe: And how do you spell Vita?

Cody: It is spelled V I T A.

Chris: So, you covered a whole bunch of things there, and I'm glad to know that all of the things you said are the things that our Taking on Taxes course have to say as well, that you can access through
pennyforward.com
I'm curious to know, though, because a lot of people sort of start with, "Well, you know, I either am going to file my taxes and everybody that files my taxes for me is a CPA, like should I go to a CPA, or should I do it myself?" This is a question that people ask. And so I want to clarify this for people. Is this correct? Not every tax preparer is a CPA. In fact, most are not. Is that true?

Cody: Yeah. That's very correct. Um, if you go to a place like an H&R Block, or Liberty, your taxes are likely not being prepared by a CPA. It's likely being prepared by somebody who, you know, took some sort of basic tax exam, and got, you know, limited rights to practice before the IRS. But if you go to an accounting firm, it's likely gonna be prepared by a CPA, or at least supervised and reviewed by a CPA.

Chris: And then I'm curious to know too, do you know of any blind people that are practicing as seasonal tax preparers and what the accessibility of that career path might be like?

Cody: I don't know of anybody that prepares individual taxes as a blind person, and what challenges they may or may not have ran into, unfortunately.

Chris: Well, if you are a blind person that's doing seasonal tax preparation, and you're listening to this podcast, get a hold of us at pennyforward@pennyforward.com 'cause we'd love to know you and learn more about that.

MOe: Jumping off that point, uh, you said you have prepared your own taxes, and taxes for a select few individuals. How have you found the process, and what process do you use? I think you said you use Turbo Tax?

Cody: Yeah. So, that's a good question. When I started, when I was right out of college, and prepared my taxes as well as those for, you know, a couple family members, I always paper filed them, because I felt like I had, you know, a good grip on what was going on, I knew what I was doing, it was easy enough, it didn't cost us anything to do then, and it was, you know, still relatively easy for me. Um, as I progressed further through my career, I feel like, you know, my tax situation is a little more complex, a little more goes into the return, and he, when the pandemic hit, I didn't want to wait four months to who knows how long for my refund, so I quickly pivoted and started E-filing any individual returns that I prepare. So, with that, I started using Turbo tax, and specifically, the online version, is relatively, pretty accessible. A few of the cool things that you can do with Turbo Tax is upload your W 2 as a PDF, and it has some like built-in, I don't know if   really want to call it AI feature, but recognition feature that prepopulates that line on the return. It also has the ability, depending on if you have brokerage accounts and who your broker is on them, as well as bank account interest who your bank is, to connect Turbo Tax to those accounts and it pulls in then your 1099's and things of that nature, eliminating a lot of data entry, which is extremely nice when preparing a return. Especially if you have a lot going on. I have found sometimes in, you know, some of the brokerage stuff, some snags with accessibility on the screen there, to, you know, hit, select something or hit the "next" button, and what I've used for that is just, you know, Aira with Team Viewer to connect in and they're able to check the box that way, and then move on to the next part of the return. So, I mean I think, you know, the big, one of the other bigger things that, you know, can be sometimes challenging a, preparing your own return is what format those source documents you get are in. Like is the W 2 an accessible PDF, or your 1099's and things of that nature? I've found that, for whatever reason, with tax documents, as far as OCR'ING them, the Jaws OCR works really, the built-in feature that Jaws has works really well than a lot of the other OCR'S. That's always been my go-to, and I'm able to get 95 percent, probably, of the information that I need to complete the return that way.

MOe: I think another big bonus to doing the online E-filer systems is that if you're using the same one from year to year, all your previous information is there to fall back on.

Chris: Could you talk briefly about tax deductions and tax credits and what the differences are, and if you know of any, could you talk about some of the deductions or credits that we might want to take advantage either as blind people, or as people who are on lower incomes?

Cody: Obviously the biggest one is that increase standard deduction for blind individuals, and that's something that you just need to check a box on the first page of your return, or make sure that your return for, in the digital world, right, make, or sometimes you maybe if you have a return prepared, don't interact with them face to face, so they don't see that you're a blind person, definitely make sure they know that and check that box, because it's an extra eighteen hundred and fifty dollars of standard deduction for 2023. So, it raises your standard deduction to fifteen thousand, seven hundred dollars. The other one that can be beneficial for some people is what's called disability related work expenses. Um, and I believe it's a, um, itemized deduction, but it's just, you know, any additional work expenses, whether it be software that you've, you know, needed for work etc. that you've had to purchase that you wouldn't have if you didn't have a disability, I think I see, I mean just based on the itemization, you really see, don't see too many people take advantage of that, but it is out there, and in some instances for some people, it might make sense.

Chris: Could you talk briefly about what a deduction is, and what a tax credit is?

Cody: Yeah. Absolutely. So, a deduction is a subtraction from your taxable income amount. So, if you, the standard deduction is fifteen thousand seven hundred dollars. If you have income of thirty thousand dollars, and you get the standard deduction, now your taxable income is fourteen thousand three hundred dollars. Whereas a tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar deduction of your tax liability. So, if you owe taxes of five thousand dollars, have a credit of one thousand dollars, your tax liability that you owe is now four thousand dollars. Some of the more common credits out there are the earned income credit, which is for people, um, particularly over the age of twenty-four, with children, that have an income below a certain threshold, and won't get into what that threshold is and the formula for that, it's super complex. But other credits, there's some out there for paying for college expenses such as books, tuition, things of that nature that are popular. There's a bill in the House right now that NFB has done a lot of work on to get a tax credit for accessible technology purchases, and that would be a two-thousand-dollar credit that you could take over three years. So, if you went out and bought, say, a braille display and it cost you three thousand dollars, you would get two thousand in credit to use over three years. So approximate, a little less than seven hundred a year to use in offsetting your tax liability for the purchase of that piece of technology. Um, and that's been in the house for, I think a few years now, and had a companion bill at the senate at one point, but it's something that I think a lot of us would benefit from, (chuckle.) If the legislation on that were to get passed.

MOe: I think we're running short on time, so is there anything you can think of that we didn't think to ask?

Cody: Yeah. I think two quick things. I mean, I had mentioned, you know, the Vita program, I think that's a really good program for a lot of people with income under sixty-four thousand dollars, because a lot of times you're getting people who are working their way to being a CPA, maybe in last year of under grad or grad school that are preparing those returns. You're getting a good quality product that, you know, you don't have to pay for, and don't have to do any work for, so I'd recommend that to anybody whose income is at a point where they could utilize those services. And second thing, a couple years ago, the IRS acquired the ability to produce notices, um, and any other correspondence for that matter, in alternative formats, and the alternative formats that they're offering are braille, large print, and audio. What the IRS did, is when they announced that they were gonna make these formats available, they sent correspondences to everybody that checked the blindness standard deduction in braille and large print to, um, advise them on how to get these formats, but there are people who didn't, haven't opted in yet, or never got one of these notices. What you need to do is file form 9000 with, either with your next year return, or you can file it as a standalone form, and, um, you know, if you do it with your return, it's something you just want to ask your service provider to do. It asks you a couple of questions, and just, then you have to check which format you want to receive correspondence from the IRS in. Or, if you, you know, file the form stand alone, you would go to irs.gov and then you could download a PDF that would be editable that you can fill in and then place the form in the mail, and you would have then elected into that alternative format. Also, I think on the form, there's a number to call if you're having issues filling in the PDF, and if you were to call that number, you could wait on hold, um, and get to talk to an agent, who would then be able to file the form on your behalf to elect you into that format. And you know if you're wondering like, "Why is this important," um, and, you know, "What is the big reason for this," well, I know like for a lot of us, print now is not ideal, right? And with notices that you get, you sometimes have a thirty or sixty-day window to contest them if you disagree. Well, if you're like me, (Chuckle.) Sometimes, now, that's in print, it sometimes gets pushed to the bottom priority of your list, or that has to wait till you have somebody to read it to you, and a couple weeks have passed, or even longer has passed. You've now lost time on your notice to contest it, or to do whatever you need to before that time limit. So, it's, you know, important that we can receive quickly and are able to read so that we can take appropriate action as necessary.

Chris: So, uh, with most of our guests, we ask at the end if there is any contact information you're interested in sharing with the listeners, and, uh, are you open to being contacted?

Cody: Probably the quickest way to contact me is through E-mail, and my E-mail is Cody, C O D Y, my middle initial, J as in James, and then last name Bair, B A I R, at yahoo dot com, or you can reach out to me via call or text at 970-673-6998 

Chris: Thanks for being here, Cody. This is a wealth of information, and welcome to the Penny Forward team.

Cody: Yeah. Happy to be involved and look forward to working with the organization.

Chris: The Penny Forward podcast is produced by Chris Peterson and Liz Bottner with help from MOe Carpenter. 
Audio editing and postproduction is provided by Brynn Lee at superblink.org text transcription of the podcast episodes is provided by Anne Verduin, and the music is performed by Andre Louis. All of those people are blind. Penny Forward is a nonprofit organization founded and led by blind people. Together, we help each other navigate the complicated landscape of personal finance through education, mentoring, and mutual support. To learn more about our accessible online courses, weekly workshops, Tuesday Turning Pages book brunches, monthly member meetups, early access to the Penny Forward podcast, our weekly newsletter, one on one financial counseling, and, the opportunity to get a free subscription to the YNAB app, visit our website at www.pennyforward.com and find the "join Penny Forward" link, right near the top of the page. Also, Penny Forward is supported by your donations. We do not receive any government funding, and, uh, we have received a very small amount of grant funding, but I do want to acknowledge our granters at this point. They are Wells Fargo, and Thrivent Financial. If you feel like we are providing a good service, though, and you would like to help us continue doing it, please visit www.pennyforward.com/donate and set up a one time or recurring donation today to help us continue this very important work. And, uh, other ways you can help are by spreading the word on social media , talking to your rehab agency about working with us, talking to, uh, any training centers you work with or other blindness agencies that you work with about partnering with us, and uh, we also have some volunteer opportunities where you can help to advise our work, and all of that stuff is available at our website, again, that is www.pennyforward.com. 

Now, for all of us in the Penny Forward community, I'm Chris Peterson, ...

MOe: I'm MOe Carpenter, '''

Chris: And hello to Liz Bottner, who is out doing some really important advocacy stuff. Thanks for listening and have a great week.