RIT on TV News: Pilot Tax Preparation Program

R News reports on an initiative led by Rochester Institute of Technology MBA student Joshua Beal to improve the tax preparation process for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Anchor: For the first time this year, a large segment of the Rochester community will have hands on help understanding those sometimes confusing tax documents. R News reporter Leah George has more on the first of its kind tax prep pilot program.

Reporter: Filing federal and state income taxes can sometimes be a confusing process. Imagine how much more difficult it would be if you couldn't communicate with the person who's trying to help.

Joshua Beal: When you're talking about you owe money, it's embarrassing because you're revealing yourself to someone, a strange sharing your most private information.

Reporter: Whether its sign language or Spanish, the director of CASH want her clients to get the best possible answers to their questions. CASH volunteers have been helping low to moderate income people prepare their taxes for free since 2002.

Rita Eygaboard: We've been trying to find a better way to communicate with people so we can make sure that we're providing them with a really good service.

Reporter: Investment advisor and RIT MBA fellow Joshua Beal is making that goal a reality, at least for the deaf. His first of its kind tax prep pilot program for the hard of hearing has the support of the IRS and the National Disability Institute.

Beal: Many times with a hearing person they just write the minimum, and its done. We can communicate, we can listen to questions, we can answer and problem solve. That's a big difference for the deaf consumer.

Reporter: The program was launched in 9 locations in 5 states this year. Rochester was a natural fit, it has the highest per capita deaf population in the country.

Right now, there's more demand from the other cities that are calling in to have services with the deaf tax, and now that we have it up and running, we want to do more to reach out to people in Rochester to let them know we're here and they can take advantage of this service.

Beal says the soft launch of this program is just the beginning. His hope is to make it mainstream and turn potential embarrassing situations into an empowering one. Leah George, R News.

Anchor: CASH will offer this program at two sites through mid-April. One is in the Southtown Plaza in henrietta the other is in Depot Plaza in Irondequoit. For more information visit our website Rnews.com.

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