Tax-Aid Focuses on Year-Round Free Tax Help, Expanding Services
February 13, 2025
Since its founding in 1988 by “accountants and lawyers who wanted to lend a hand” San Francisco’s Tax-Aid has focused on providing quality, trustworthy tax services to the Bay Area and –now– statewide with virtual tax preparation accessible via their website.
This expansion into virtual tax services was one part of Tax-Aid’s motivation to become a Community Connect partner for 2025, with the goal of networking with other organizations across the state and reaching more clients than ever.
“Our experience during the Covid-19 pandemic really highlighted the need to expand our services outside of the Bay Area,” said Tax-Aid Executive Director Jill Sturm. “Many free tax programs suspended their in person tax services. Though Tax-Aid continued to meet clients in person via our Curbside Drop Off Services, we pivoted to build out our online service. It resonated with us that GSO has partners throughout the state and, especially with the current political climate, there’s more anxiety around doing taxes than ever. Taxes are confusing for all of us on some level.”
Their impact has been large. In 2024, nearly $2 million in refunds was generated from returns prepared by Tax-Aid and between 2,000 and 3,000 people were helped.
Tax-Aid’s over 900 volunteers helped 2,266 clients in a range of different languages. Tax-Aid also offers a unique service that many other free tax help organizations don’t: help with more complicated tax situations since many of Tax-Aid’s volunteers are CPA’s or accountants capable of handling more advanced tax filing scenarios.
“We’ve been building trust in our community for 36 years and we see so many returning clients and clients who have been referred by other people who have used our services,” said Sturm. “We recognize that the tax return is a financial instrument. People might need their tax return to apply for affordable housing, start small businesses or apply for other benefit programs. It’s an important part of what we all do even though people’s reaction is ‘ugh taxes.’ We want to make the process as easy as we can.”
This year, Tax-Aid will again participate in GSO’s Tacos & Taxes event in Redwood City at the Fair Oaks Community Center on Saturday, February 22, from 10:00am – 2:00pm. Tax-Aid will be joined by Assemblymember Diane Papan to assist individuals and families in preparing their tax returns.