VITA Tax Prep Volunteers Celebrate Their Success‏

Dear VITA Volunteers, Site Coordinators, EITC Coalition Members, and Friends of the Earn It Keep It Save It Coalition:

Last night more than 100 VITA volunteers gathered to celebrate the results of their tax preparation efforts. Preliminary numbers from the IRS show $5.7m in total refunds from the services provided at our county’s network of VITA sites this year.  This figure is up from $4.1m from last year!!!  

Of the total amount,  $2.1m represents EITC (Earned Income Tax Credits), Child Care Tax Credits account for $1.1m, and Education Tax Credits $200k.  The average EITC was $1,469 per family.   Preliminary numbers indicate that more than 4,500 taxpayers were assisted.   Additional details on final results will be forthcoming as numbers become available from the IRS over next few weeks.

Two very special people were recognized for 20+ years of VITA Volunteer Service: Teresita deJesus De La Pena  (Gilroy One Stop) and Sally Chiang (Hillview Library). Commendations were presented to them by  L’Tanya Brooks, Acting Area Director IRS S.P.E.C., Area 4 (Western States) and Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese.

Mona S. Masri, of Citi Community Development, announced a second year $10,000 grant to support the EKS coalition’s efforts.

Also acknowledged were:

·        IBM -- for the 35 laptops and 15 printers that were distributed and used at many VITA sites.  This critical equipment helped expand the operational capacity of those sites.  

·        Tax EZ Program of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County -- for their expansion of services and financial support

·        Santa Clara County and City of San Jose staff members -- for their public awareness efforts, including facilitating the notice atop municipal garbage bills about free tax help being available for low-income families.

 

 

Building on efforts already underway in the community, this Santa Clara County-wide EITC/VITA collaboration works to develop additional resources to assist more local families in filing taxes online for free -- and to be directed to financial resources, services, and opportunities.  The coalition reflects a partnership between the Internal Revenue Service ( IRS) and numerous community, government and business groups, and is now incorporating the Bay Area region-wide name of Earn It Keep It Save It (EKS).  We hope to keep growing this effort so that more families will be able to file their taxes quickly and for free while receiving online information coupled with person-to-person advice on how to open a bank account, save for college, get out of debt, and family budgeting support.

 

Patrick J Soricone
VP, Community Building & Impact
United Way Silicon Valley

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