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Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance Project
Program
Summary
Through a
collaboration of four organizations, the
Madison County Volunteer Income Tax
Assistance program provides free tax
preparation to low-income families. For many
families, VITA offers unique access to the
Earned Income Credit.
Program
Overview
Through a
collaboration of four government and private
organizations, the Volunteer Income Tax
Assistance (VITA) program in Madison County,
NY provides free and efficient tax
preparation service to low-income families.
Most of the families helped through the
program qualify for the Earned Income Credit
(EIC). EIC is a generous tax credit issued
to low-income, working households by the
Federal government and New York State. In
the last decade, the EIC has become the
centerpiece of our national anti-poverty
programs.
Due to lack of
information and other barriers, a
significant portion of low-income families
in Madison County do not know that they
qualify for EIC. Since participants’ income
levels often do not require them to file
income taxes, they would not receive the EIC
without knowledge of and involvement in the
VITA program. Families who know they qualify
for EIC but are overwhelmed by the paperwork
often pay large fees to tax preparation
services, significantly reducing their net
tax return. A low-income working family
with two children can receive as much as
$4000 from the EIC return. As we have
learned from the data collected through
surveys of all participants in the Madison
County VITA program, EIC returns allow these
families to do things that many of us would
take for granted – pay bills on time,
purchase or repair a vehicle that allows
them to find or keep a stable job, move to a
new home or apartment, or buy new clothes
and shoes for the children.
Government and
private collaboration, as well as the
significant involvement of college student
tax preparers are the key innovations in the
Madison County VITA program. Four
organizations, the Madison County Department
of Social Services, the Community Action
Program for Madison County, the Upstate
Institute at Colgate University, and the
Internal Revenue Service work together to
make the project a success. The Department
of Social Services provides one of the two
tax preparation facilities, generates
clients, and provides a staff accountant to
oversee all filings. The Community Action
Program, a private, non-profit agency,
schedules all of the tax preparation
appointments, generates clients, and
provides the other tax preparation facility.
Through the Upstate Institute, Colgate
University supplies the tax preparers who
are undergraduate student volunteers.
Madison County’s VITA program is the first
student-led VITA program in the state of New
York. The Internal Revenue Service sends
professionals to campus to train the
students and provides tax preparation
software and materials.
We believe the
success of our program hinges on this joint
collaboration. Each organization provides a
vital role in providing accessible, accurate
and discreet tax preparation services to
working families in Madison County who are
struggling to make ends meet on a daily
basis. In addition, the program provides a
unique experience for our student
volunteers. Not only do they have an
opportunity to use the skills they develop
at Colgate, but they also see how their time
and talents can positively impact members of
their community.
Project
Impact
The Madison
County VITA program started in 2003 with 121
tax returns filed. In 2005, more than 250
low-income wage earners had their taxes
prepared and e-filed at no cost by the
program, saving each taxpayer about $135 in
preparation fees. The state Office of
Temporary and Disability Assistance
estimated the dollar impact of the program
in our county to be over $500,000 in 2005 –
money that is eventually spent in our
community.
A survey is
part of our VITA program; the results are
crucial to informing us about the families
that benefit from the collaboration. The
average return, federal and state combined,
received was approximately $2900. The
average household income of our clients is
about $12,500 and 54% of the families
include children. Many of the families that
participate are recipients of non-cash
assistance from the Department of Social
Services, 35% report to receive food stamps
and 43% receive Medicaid.
The benefits of
this program go well beyond the monetary
benefits to these families. The wider
community benefits when refunds are spent
locally and also from the joint
collaboration of local organizations. The
partnership that this project began led to
additional collaborations, including a grant
to improve food stamp participation. The
students also benefit from this project.
They learn how to file tax returns but, more
importantly, interacting with local families
and seeing the immediate benefits of those
refunds to these families is an eye opening
experience for many Colgate students.
Carlee
Leraris' Final Report on VITA
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