Free tax prep for families and seniors

People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women.

Of course, this excludes President Donald Trump, who boasted he paid no federal income taxes for years after taking deductions for business losses. Paying no taxes “makes me smart,” he said in a September debate.

Unfortunately, the majority of usworking stiffs are forced to fork overwads of cash to Uncle Sam on TaxDay, which this year falls on April 18.

But you can take a cue from our Twitter-famous South Florida neighbor and be “smart,” too, by taking advantage of all possible deductions, exemptions and tax credits to legally cheat the tax man.

Several nonprofits, such as theUnitedWay in Palm Beach County and HispanicUnity Florida and theUnitedWay in Broward, are offering free tax preparation through the Internal Revenue Services’Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The free service, valued at up to $150, is offered in English, Spanish andHaitian-Creole, among other languages.

A corp of IRS-certified volunteer tax professionals help low- to moderate-income individuals and families, as well as seniors in certain income brackets to take full advantage of deductions, including more than $6,200 in Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) and elderly and child credits,

Households with no children may qualify for a credit of up to $506; with one child, it’s $3,373; two is $5,572; and three or more kids is $6,269.

If you qualify and don’t claim the credit, you’re leaving big money on the table. BAD!

In Palm Beach County, those who earned less than $64,000 per household in 2016 can take advantage of VITA services at a host of locations listed at TaxesFiledFree.org.

“In previous years, Palm Beach residents have banked more than $72 million in EITC credits,” says Vivian Pazmino, the VITA program administrator for theUnitedWay of Palm Beach County. “Residents also savedmore than $2.5 million in tax preparation fees in 2016.”

Since 2004, more than 116,000 Palm Beach County families have been served by tax pros, receiving $184 million in refunds, Pazmino says.

Trumpwould be very proud.

In Broward County, families earning a household income of $54,000 or less can get free tax preparation and filing through the VITA program, sponsored by HispanicUnity of Florida, theUnitedWay and the Chil-