|
April 6, 2011
Dear Friends,
Tax season - the word strikes fear into the hearts of many Americans every year. As the April 18th deadline is approaching, some of you may have the option to eliminate the anxiety and have your tax return prepared for FREE.
If you are an individual or family living on a low to moderate income, you may qualify for one of two programs.
The first tax assistance program is called “Earn It! Keep It! Save It!” (EKS). It is coordinated by the United Way in conjunction with many other groups including the IRS, Tax Aide, and AARP. The United Way’s Earn It! Keep It! Save It! program is the largest anti-poverty program in the nation. EKS provides low- to moderate-income households with free, quality tax preparation. There are 28 sites in San Mateo County alone where you can have your taxes done by a trained volunteer. If you are looking for a location near you, you can download a list in English or Spanish or call 211 or 800.358.8832.
EKS also ensures that all eligible taxpayers claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and other valuable tax credits. The returns received by claiming these credits are enormous. In the Bay Area alone, EKS helped 51,963 clients file their tax returns for free and claim $57.2 million in refunds. The United Way conservatively estimates that 80% of those refunds are spent locally, generating 276 jobs and injecting $73.3 million into the local economy. And that’s only in the Bay Area.
Secondly, “Free File” is a program that provides tax preparation software from the IRS for free. Through IRS Free File, all taxpayers who made less than $58,000 in 2010 can access the industry’s top tax preparation software, as well as a comprehensive suite of online tax forms. Participating taxpayers can also have their tax refunds direct-deposited in as little as 10 days. The IRS estimates that they give 100 million Americans online access to tax preparation software.
I hope these two programs will ease your anxiety over tax season. You can also find this information on my website.
All the best,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Capitol Hill Office
211 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3531
Fax: (202) 226-4183 |
District Office
400 S. El Camino Real, Suite 750
San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: (650) 342-0300
Fax: (650) 375-8270 |
|
|
|
|
|