Celebrating National VITA Awareness Day
Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) has designated March 15, 2016, as National VITA Awareness Day. In celebration, United Way of Southwest Alabama is spreading awareness about the state and federal income tax preparation opportunities available for free to individuals and families with a 2015 household income of $54,000 or less.
Over $3.74 million in federal income taxes was returned to workers in Mobile during the 2015 tax season as a result of free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs offered by the South Alabama Free E-file (SAFE) coalition. These SAFE coalition sites across Mobile helped more than 3,000 workers make the most of their returns last year.
VITA programs offer eligible workers a free alternative to more costly, and often predatory, tax preparation services, saving tax payers an average of $200 in tax preparation fees. The sites are staffed by IRS trained and certified volunteers and have a far lower error rate than many self- and paid-tax preparation services. CFED experts found that VITA programs across the country had a near-perfect tax return accuracy rate of 94% in 2015.
“Every year, VITA volunteers help thousands of individuals and families in southwest Alabama get the most refunds or rebates from their tax returns,” said Brad Martin, UWSWA’s VITA Program Coordinator. “Our volunteers thoroughly enjoy helping people with their tax returns and they always walk away from the experience with several tax preparation success stories.”
One success story involves a client by the name of Andrea.
Andrea experienced several big changes in her life within the span of one year and, as a result, decided to seek tax advice from a source she trusted. She reached out to United Way’s VITA team to help prepare her taxes because she wanted someone to prepare the return who was trained to find any deductions or credits she might otherwise overlook. Even with these corrective actions, she feared she might still owe a large amount. The volunteer preparer carefully worked through the return and, much to Andrea’s surprise, the amount she owed was about a third of what she had been anticipating.
“Our well-trained tax preparers offer guidance before, during, and after the return preparation process,” said Martin, “empowering people to take control of their tax situations.”
The sites also help raise awareness of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to ensure eligible workers receive the credit at the correct amount. Just under $1.5 million was returned to Mobile workers through the EITC. The EITC is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most powerful anti-poverty programs, yet one in every five workers eligible for the credit does not claim it.
To find out more information or to schedule your free tax preparation appointment, please visit www.uwswa.org or contact the United Way 2-1-1 helpline by just dialing 2-1-1.
