about kandra finances
Hi, I'm Kandra :)
In 2022, I heard my friends complaining about paying TurboTax and H&R Block, and I thought hey, "a nice seasonal side hustle". It was a moment where the dancer/gardner/therapist I was, turned into a nerdy girl who likes solving math problems. A tax preparer advised me to take a course through H&R Block, and I quickly realized how unethical it felt for me to charge everyday people what tax preparers and agencies typically charge. And I was foolishly less interested in making money, than I was in helping people from marginalized communities who didn't have access to tax services.
Then in my first tax season, while building my business I was fortunate enough to get a part-time job as a VITA site coordinator. Two months later it grew into a full-time position as the Statewide VITA program manager for a Community Action. We filed over 4,000 returns that year, and the learning curve was steep.
Over the past 3 years I have learned that I really like connecting with people and working together through sticky areas. I have been fortunate to work with people who fall outside of the norms: people in poly relationships, a group living intentionally together in a shared house, artists and many others. And if you were part of my journey so far, I can't thank you enough!
Through all of this I chose to focus on tax support and education rather than traditional tax preparation, because I believe that when we know more about our money and the financial systems we operate within, we gain more power. I am excited to begin expanding my other financial service offerings, and to continue helping people save money and be happy with their choices.
I look forward to working with you,
K
(pronounced: kahn-dra) she/they
Why This Matters
The US has the most complex and violent tax and financial systems in the world.
In my early 20's I was hanging with war tax resisters who had been practicing it for decades, losing houses, spending time in jail, being forced to pay incredible fines, etc. Only a few had the privilege to design a financial loop to bypass paying, while others purposefully earned under taxable income (like me at that time). Many shared with me how hard it had been, and advised that such personally large sacrifices were seemingly small acts of disobedience against the US empire.
Then I saw my young adult friends struggling to even engage with our bureaucratic tax system and I realized that I had actually missed out on the government giving me money for earning so little. I began to understand that being educated on our tax system can be an act of empowerment within a governed financial system.
Now I have the great fortune to help US tax filers navigate the confusion, especially those who are underserved by traditional financial services. That said, I do look forward to the day my work is phased out because of new technological advances (if this AI thing is gonna do anything…?), or better yet, a new system is built that actually benefits us. Until then, let's take a deep breath and we can handle it together.