Economy Got You Down? How About FREE Tax Service?
By John Nevitt
photo by DavidDMuir - click on photo for link
Just about everyone is feeling economic pressures these days in one form or fashion. At one extreme are families who have lost their home due to foreclosure, or who have lost their job through no fault of their own. These families are faced with making tough decisions about how to meet their most basic needs.
For the rest of us, we are deeply concerned about large dips in our retirement savings and investments, and we are fearful about the next downsizing at work.
Whatever an individual’s circumstances may be, it is safe to say that financial worries abound, and there are lots of good, hard-working folks in our community who are struggling to make ends meet and to provide for themselves and their families.
Let me tell you about one valuable service in our regional community supported by Metro United Way – free tax services. Through a long-standing partnership with the IRS and an effort known as VITA (volunteer income tax assistance), and a large number of community based organizations, volunteers are trained to complete your federal and state tax returns, and file them for you – at absolutely no cost to you if your household income is less than $49,000.
“What’s the catch?” you might wonder. “How can this be free?” “What strings are attached?” These are all good questions to ask.
As you may know, Metro United Way’s mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of our community. Free tax services help us fulfill our mission. For many families, a tax refund represents a significant amount of their annual income, and comes in one lump sum. The goal of this program is to increase income by ensuring individuals and families are claiming all of the tax credits for which they are eligible, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. We know nationally that as many as 20-25% of families who are eligible are not claiming this credit due to lack of awareness, or because they don’t know how to complete the required tax forms. This represents tens of millions of dollars for our regional community – money that could be helping families during tough times, and benefitting our local economy.
Working with the IRS, volunteers are trained to determine if you are eligible, and to claim this credit that can bring as much as several thousand dollars back to families, can be significantly more depending on household size and income. By having your taxes done at one of the many VITA tax sites located across our regional community, you can be assured that there are volunteers certified by the IRS to assist you, maximize your tax refund, and leave you with a smile on your face, because there is no cost to you other than your time, and there are no strings attached! Filers with bank accounts who choose direct deposit can have their return in as little as 10 days or less.
If you need help, visit one of the free VITA tax sites supported through Metro United Way, in partnership with the Louisville Asset Building Coalition (LABC) for Jefferson County, the Southern Indiana Asset Building Coalition (SIABC) for Clark, Floyd and Harrison Counties in Indiana, and HJW Career and Financial Literacy Institute for Oldham and Shelby Counties.
If you would like to volunteer to help with free tax services, please contact the appropriate organization for your region. Last year, these efforts served 10,000 filers in our regional area, and additional volunteers are always needed as we strive to serve more.