W. Dundee man happy to help area seniors file taxes

Oh, the stories Raymond Sussmann could tell about helping Dundee Township senior citizens file their state and federal income taxes.

If he put them altogether they would fill hundreds of the same kind of shoeboxes his clients walk in with holding their receipts and documents.

For 28 years Sussmann, a West Dundee resident, has been serving as an American Association of Retired Persons volunteer and helping the seniors sort through piles of unopened mail.

As they open the letters from banks, investment firms and the government, he listens to their stories of how they were recently widowed and their deceased husbands or wives always took care of the taxes.

"Some of these people don't even know what they have in the letters," he said. "It takes us a while to get to what they really need for their taxes."

And when they get there, half the time they discover they don't have enough income to even file a return. But they do so anyway to give the seniors the peace of knowing they are doing their American duty and declaring their income.

Sussmann can empathize with the seniors who receive the services for free every Thursday morning during income tax season at the Dundee Township Library. He'll be 91 years old this year.

His failing eyesight prevents him from calculating the taxes. He leaves that duty to the seven other volunteers who use computers to do the math. Sussmann lines up the documents for the consultants.

But in his day when pen and scratch paper were his tools, the volunteer coordinator asked the questions from the tax forms and listened to stories about how newlyweds bought homes for pennies, children were raised on quarters, dollars came and went and lifetimes were lived in the span of an afternoon.

"Everybody has a story. If they could, they would spend all day talking," he said. "We don't mind listening; we just want get the people through the schedule so we can help as many people as possible."

Through the years, the West Dundee resident has had help from other AARP volunteers in filing the tax returns. Some years he's worked with four people. Other years he's worked with five people. This year, seven people work from 9 a.m. to noon at the Dundee Township Library on an appointment basis.

"We don't do anything complicated. For the little old lady who passes out samples at the grocery store, she's self employed. We'll handle hers," he said. "But if anyone who comes in with investments of a $500,000 a year business, we'll tell them to go see a lawyer."

Before the volunteers start every year, they pass a test given by the Internal Revenue Service. It explains the changes in the income tax code and special benefits for Social Security recipients.

"We'll see about six people an hour. That's about 20 people on a given Thursday," he said. "For the 10 Thursdays we are there, that's about 200 people a season. Sometimes it gets so busy we have to turn people away.

He's not complaining, though. While the clients are waiting for their appointments, Sussmann listens to their stories. Sometimes they are told by people who are not old enough to be a senior citizen.

The volunteer income tax team has helped people younger than 65. The only requirement is the returns and income has to be simple.

"We not equipped to anything complicated," he said. "We're trying to help as many people as possible save the 100 bucks they would spend by going to a professional tax preparer."

In all the years and of all the clients the one story Sussmann has never heard is that one of the returns has been audited by the IRS, he said.

To make an appointment for the income tax help, call the library at (847) 428-3661.