Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

Need Assitance With Your Taxes?

Nationwide, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites play a critical role in ensuring that eligible families receive their often unclaimed Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This free tax assistance service also helps these individuals save hundreds of dollars in commercial tax preparation fees and predatory “rapid refunds” loan fees and interest.

The EITC is the federal government’s largest benefits program for working families and EITC is arguably the most effective anti-poverty program in America. This program lifts more children and families out of poverty than any other single federal program or combination of federal programs.

EITC refunds also have a substantial impact upon the local economy. Research shows that many families receiving the EITC use it to pay for basic necessities like housing, utilities, food, and major household appliances. Research also suggests that some families use their EITC refund to make purchases or investments that can help them maintain their jobs, their homes, or to improve their employability so they have a better chance of moving into the middle class. For example, a significant share of families use part of their EITC to repair or replace a car needed to get to work, to make essential, but costly, repairs to a home, or to pay for more education or job training.

The United Way of the Greater Clarksville Region offered the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program again this year. The United Way of the Greater Clarksville Region, the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library, Urban Ministries’  Grace Assistance, and the IRS partnered together to serve low to moderate income working families by preparing their taxes free of charge.  Approximately 25 percent of eligible families in Clarksville- Montgomery County failed to claim a large sum of money in Earned Income Tax Credit refunds.

The VITA program began with a kick-off at the Clarksville Montgomery County Library on January 31 with guest speaker Montgomery County Mayor Carolyn Bowers and operated through April 15, 2008. All of the sites were manned by trained, IRS certified volunteer tax assistants. Through these trained community volunteers, the United Way of the Greater Clarksville Region and its partner VITA sites provided free tax preparation and access to the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits to help working families receive the full amount of their tax returns, increase their income and begin creating savings.

Volunteers at these sites helped individuals and families in the low-to-moderate income range prepare their taxes, and also offered electronic filing (e-filing) at no cost.

The dates for the upcoming 2008 tax year will be posted in January.