IRS Leaves Town, Though Bethpage Ready to Help With Returns - for Free

Though the Internal Revenue Service building on East Main Street across from Hyatt East End closed up shop last Friday after 30 years of operation, low-income residents seeking face-to-face tax help still have the chance to find the help locally.

The five full-time employees who were working at the Riverhead IRS office have been transferred to Hauppauge, so help is still available there - as is aid over the phone. But 2012 marks the eighth year has offered a Volunteer Tax Income Assistance program.

"Each year, millions of dollars go unclaimed, and predatory practices pop up during tax season," said Rob Suarez, the assistant vice president of communication and development for Bethpage. "We hear a lot of horror stories. But you don't have to be a CPA to do a basic tax return."

Suarez said the VITA program - run through the Internal Revenue Service - does limit the complexity of the returns they accept, since the people preparing them are volunteers. So those with homes, who itemize a lot of deductions, or own a business would be advised to seek professional help.

The program offers the service to anyone in the community - Bethpage client or not - with an annual income below $49,000. Representatives at Suffolk County National Bank and Capital One were asked if they had similar programs, and said they did not.

George Greenberg, the president of the chapter 53 local which represented the Riverhead employees who were shifted to Hauppauge, said that those who sought the services of the IRS Riverhead office "were usually in an economic situation where they needed the free services we offered them. Now they have to either use a computer, mail service, or come to Hauppauge."

When told about the VITA program, Greenberg said, "that would probably be a good thing for a lot of those people."

Isabel Sepulveda, publisher of the bilingual East End newspaper La Voz, said the same thing.

"I know a lot of Latinos who either see one of a couple Latino accountants I know out here, and I also some who drive all the way into Queens," she said. "I guess it depends on who you trust."

Suarez acknowledged that getting people in the door can be difficult, but once people sit down and start talking, he's found they come back in ensuing years.

"A lot of people think if they go to a financial institution, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) is somehow going to get involved or something," he said. "You just have to prove yourself to them, and once you have one person go through it, word of mouth has generated the success of the program."

The VITA program at the Riverhead Bethpage office, located on Route 58, will be offered on Wednesday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 3 to 6 p.m. The program runs until April 11.

For those interested in visiting the IRS office in Hauppauge, the address is: 1180 Veterans Memorial Highway. The phone number is 631-851-4726.