Goodwill offering tax assistance for free

Goodwill’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or VITA, prepares taxes, free of charge, for any person or household making less than $60,000 a year.

VITA says not charging for services helps the most financially vulnerable.

The program has been around for decades helping folks like Cecilia Norris.

Norris said, “It means a lot, especially when you’re retired and just living on retirement.”

Norris and her husband were getting their taxes prepared by VITA.

Norris said, “We have railroad retirement, which is a little more complicated than regular income tax, and we always get it done here because they know what they’re doing.”

Last year vita filed taxes for more than 3,200 people, resulting in more than 5.5 million dollars in returns. VITA Program Manager Victoria Annesley says they’re ready to help again this year, but there are some things taxpayers should know.

Annesley said, “Last year when you didn’t have be having taxable income to file to get the Child Tax Credit, where this year, you will need to be able to have taxable income to get that. For instance, people who were on just disability or social security income could still come in and get the Child Tax Credit. That is done and over with.”

The IRS is also rolling back a few key tax credits to pre-covid amounts. In 2021, the child tax credit increased to $3,600 per dependent but now will go back to $2,000. The earned income tax credit gave taxpayers with no kids $1,500 in 2021, now they’ll get $500. The child and dependent care credit return to a maximum of $2,100, instead of $8,000 in 2021.