CN: February 20, 2019

Page 1

February 20, 2019

A helping hand at tax time

Around Town

By Dr. Robyn Lawrence. Pg. 2 Sign up to attend the 12th Annual Mayors’ Shamrock Charity Ball. Pg. 3

Special Section Senior Living. Pg.6 Vote for your favorite Business in North County. Pg. 10

Features Photo by Kate Edmonson Volunteers work with clients on their tax returns as a part of the United Way of Greater St. Louis Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program at the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta church in Ferguson on Feb. 16.

United Way of Greater St. Louis Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program has been working to provide those in need with free tax preparation services By Charlotte Beard For over 15 years, United Way of Greater St. Louis has been working with community partners to provide local families and individuals free tax preparation services through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The program helps those who qualify and earn an annual income under the $55,000 threshold. United Way’s tax coalition partners include Metropolitan St. Louis Community Tax Coalition, Gateway EITC Community Coalition, National Association of Black Accountants, and St. Louis Tax Assistance Program. In 2018, 877 volunteers worked through the coalitions to provide services which is estimated to have helped households save $5 million in tax preparation services. This effort also resulted in more than 18,600 tax return filings which helped low and middle-income families receive close to $18 million combined in refunds. Debbie Irwin, Community Economic De-

velopment Director for United Way of Greater St. Louis said, “United Way first got involved with the tax preparation program in 2003. At that time, we worked with volunteers to help create the Gateway EITC Community Coalition and help them get off the ground. We began reaching out to other coalitions that were doing tax preparation in the area and began providing additional funding.” Eric Schneider, Executive Director for Gateway EITC Community Coalition shared, “We (prepared) 87,000 federal returns over that time period bringing back $98 million to the community. We’ve seen significant growth; the need is always there. We can grow more if we get more volunteers.” Irwin added that grants help offset the free tax preparation costs. The services highly rely on volunteers to help prepare taxes. As partners can recruit volunteers, they are able to grow and increase the number of services offered.

Schneider shared, “We can always use more volunteers whether it’s a greeter, preparer, or reviewer. We’d love to get more people involved in this community service.” People who are interested in volunteering their time to this initiative are encouraged to visit www.stlvolunteer.org. For the duration of this tax preparation period, free assistance is provided on Saturdays and the times may vary by location. Families and individuals who desire assistance from the VITA program are welcome to call United Way’s 2-1-1 help line to verify their eligibility or request other information. They can also visit: http://www.211helps.org/free-tax-prep or http://gatewayeitc.org. On these sites there is a list of all needed documentation and a comprehensive list of all free tax preparation locations is accessible via a link at the bottom of the site referenced for United Way’s 2-1-1 See ‘TAX’ page 2

Serving North & Northwest St. Louis County | FREE Online at mycnews.com | Vol. 98 No. 8 | 636-379-1775

Recipe, Movie & Sudoku. Pg. F-1 CLASSIFIEDS AND HOME & GARDEN. Pg. F-2 /F-3 Moore On Life, Yeggs & Crossword Puzzle. Pg. F-4

Weather FRIDAY Sunny…Then Rain 48/37 SATURDAY Rain 53/38 SUNDAY Chance of Rain 47/28 FirstWarn Weather

prepared by meteorologist Nick Palisch. For the latest updates visit www.facebook.com/nickswx.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.