Aloha United Way’s family and individual self-sufficiency program needs volunteers to help at its free tax assistance sites across the state. Volunteers receive free training and materials as well as experience helping Hawai‘i’s workers claim tax credits. One such credit,
Aloha United Way’s family and individual self-sufficiency program needs volunteers to help at its free tax assistance sites across the state. Volunteers receive free training and materials as well as experience helping Hawai‘i’s workers claim tax credits.
One such credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, is the focus of self-sufficiency campaigns across the nation because the amount of benefits that qualified families can receive. This credit can boost an annual household income by as much as 30 to 40 percent. For tax year 2007, a married couple with at least two qualified children could receive up to $4,716 in benefits.
The Earned Income Tax Credit is the nation’s largest anti-poverty program, providing lower-income workers with an incentive to work, according to United Way. The credit is structured to supplement incomes by reducing income tax liabilities and providing refunds to those who qualify. Each year nationwide, the credit raises the incomes of almost 5 million people above the poverty line, half of which are children. Yet annually, approximately 4 million people fail to claim this valuable credit, states the United Way. In Hawai‘i, during tax year 2005, qualified taxpayers failed to claim an estimated $45 million in such benefits.
Volunteer tax return preparers provide a critical service by helping workers correctly file their returns and claim valuable credits. As a free service, taxpayers also save money on tax preparation fees. In 2005, Earned Income Tax Credit-qualified taxpayers in Hawai‘i spent over $7.6 million to have their tax returns prepared.
Free tax preparation sites also help taxpayers avoid predatory lending products such as high interest refund anticipation loans, which seriously decrease the benefits of their tax credits.
For tax year 2006, the free tax assistance sites coordinated by and established with the help of Aloha United Way’s family and individual self-sufficiency program and American Association of Retired Persons prepared over 7,000 tax returns, saved taxpayers more than $1 million in preparation fees, and helped low-income workers claim more than $5.7 million in tax refunds, including nearly $1.9 million of Earned Income Tax Credit benefits.
Several new sites will be established on O‘ahu and across Neighbor Islands this year. Interested persons can find out more about becoming certified volunteer tax return preparers by calling Susan Tamanaha at Aloha United Way at 543-2201 or by visiting http://www.hawaiitaxhelp.org.
