Tax EZ

National Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day - Jan, 26, 2012

Contact: Minh Hoang Pham
408.325.5166 mhoang@catholiccharitiesscc.org

For the 2011 tax filing season, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County’s Tax EZ program processed 35% of the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program’s returns in Santa Clara County.

Catholic Charities volunteers processed 2,018 federal tax returns totaling more than $2.8 million in refunds – money that comes back to families in Santa Clara County to help bolster the local economy.

By emphasizing the eligibility of Santa Clara County residents for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), qualified working families could earn up to $5,660 in tax refunds. Last year, Catholic Charities helped bring more than $1 million back to Santa Clara County in EITC funds.

During the past seven years, Catholic Charities’ Tax EZ program has helped file more than 9,300 federal tax returns that amounted to:

• More than $11.4 million returned to low-income individuals and families, and to the local economy
• More than $4.7 million in earned income tax credits (EITC) refunded
• An estimated $930,000 in tax preparation costs saved

Families participating in the program received free one-on-one multilingual tax preparation and electronic filing, as well as valuable financial education and counseling. These services were provided by community volunteers at eight Catholic Charities VITA locations throughout Santa Clara County.

The VITA program has been funded by the IRS for the past four years. The grants are an IRS initiative designed to promote and support free tax preparation services for underserved low- income populations. These populations include elderly, disabled, limited English proficient, non-urban, and Native American taxpayers. Last year the IRS awarded funds to 177 organizations that planned services in all 50 states.