Tax Hotline a Success Thanks to Westchester Volunteers

By Stephanie R. Myers

The Westchester Chapter sponsored a Tax Hotline Day on Feb. 12, where callers had the opportunity to have CPAs answer their income tax questions.

The Tax Hotline Day took place at The Journal News offices in White Plains, N.Y., and was a success once again this year, thanks to the 15 CPAs who signed up to volunteer in two-hour shifts.

“Every year I ask for volunteers from the Westchester Chapter, and every year I get a really good turnout,” said Jeffrey Schwartz, of Blaustein, Lynne & Co., LLP, Westchester Chapter president-elect. “It’s something we as a chapter do to give back to the community.”

The hotline, in its eighth year, was cosponsored by The Journal News and the Westchester Chapter.

John Pearl, of D’Arcangelo and Company LLP, has participated in the event since its inception. He said that the questions the callers asked seemed to be slightly more elaborate than in previous years.

“It seemed to me that the questions are getting a little bit more sophisticated,” Pearl said, adding that the event drew approximately 200 callers.

Pearl said that when faced with particularly complicated tax questions, volunteers are instructed to suggest that callers consult a tax advisor.

“I’m not afraid to say, ‘I don’t know,’ or ‘This is too complicated, I can’t figure it out right now,’” Pearl said. “I think it’s very worthwhile for the people who call it in.”

However, Pearl added that there were no specific trends this year in the questions callers asked.

“I would say generally the questions from year to year deal with inherited property,” Pearl said. “Those are the questions that you seem to get every year. Other than that it was just broad, no trends at all. There were no questions on earned income credits or child tax credits, which low earners normally would have had. The AMT tax, which was on the other end of the spectrum, no one asked about that.”

CPAs are encouraged to refer to materials during the calls, Pearl said, including an instruction sheet given to them by the newspaper.

“It’s a lot of fun, and there’s no pressure because we bring our reference books with us,” Pearl said.

Many thanks go to the CPAs who volunteered their time to assist the hotline. Participants in the hotline included Roberta Bernhardt, Carl Calvanico, Stephen D’Angelo, Steven DePasquale, Rodney H. Ertischek, Stephen Franciosa, Sarita Hart, Paul Herman, Kristin Krauskopf, Dean Martin, Hank Muratovic, E.J. Nedder, John Pearl, Les S. Thompson and Chris Vescio.