VITA completes over 800 tax returns
LOWELL » Community Teamwork Inc. announced that its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program has broken all previous records by completing more than 800 tax returns this year.
In a typical year, CTI’S VITA Program completes between 400-500 returns. The service is offered free of charge to residents who meet specific income requirements.
The Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program is administered by community action agencies, including Community Teamwork, throughout the country. Annually it helps thousands of wage earners access millions of dollars in tax refunds, including the Earned Income Tax Credit. In Massachusetts, the community action agencies and other community-based organizations serve over 30,000 low-income taxpayers, helping them to access over $60 million in tax refunds.
Volunteers are the heart and soul of the VITA program, with nearly 92,000 volunteers participating in VITA last year, preparing more than 3.3 million returns, according to the IRS. They are trained IRS experts who volunteer their time to help ensure timely accurate returns. They not only provide free tax prep, but also help accessing tax credits and other savings programs,
This year, Community Teamwork partnered with students from the Umass Lowell Manning School of Business. Students volunteered their Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings at CTI’S downtown office, greeting clients, answering questions and preparing income taxes, and troubleshooting issues for clients, many whom are not native English speakers. The students and other volunteers, including experienced professionals, are required to complete training before they start their work on returns.
“We would not have been able to complete as many returns as we did these past few months, without the help of our volunteers, including our UMASS Lowell students, as well as the tireless dedication of our Financial Education Center staff, including Eric Rosario and Jackyie Gonzalez, Senior Financial Literacy Coordinators, who worked around the clock, to meet the increased demand this year,” said CTI Division Director Energy and Community Resources Connie Martin.
To learn more about this program, visit commteam. org/program/volunteer-income-tax-assistance-vita.