Archive: Business & Technology

With the help of 75 volunteers and various community partners, Alternatives Federal Credit Union’s Community Tax Program filed federal and state tax returns for close to 1,500 clients, returning an average of $1,870 to every local working family served.

For the seventh year in a row, the Community Tax Program – also known as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program – has helped low- and moderate-income working families get the refunds they deserve by providing free quality income tax preparation.  The program ensures that every client who qualifies for it claims the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and other tax credits and benefits.  This free, confidential tax preparation service is available every year from January to April, for families with household incomes of $42,000 or less and individuals with incomes of up to $27,000.

In addition to the refunds, the VITA program helped low-income residents save over $200,000 in tax preparation fees.  Under the banner of  “Don’t pay to get your own money back,” volunteers dedicated weekends and evenings, compassion, energy and knowledge to prepare tax returns for local residents whose average adjusted gross family income was under $16,500.  “While we feel that no one should give up any part of their refund, we do recognize that for some, a direct deposit in two weeks is just not fast enough.  For those taxpayers, Alternatives offers a low-cost solution to predatory refund anticipation loans.  This year our Alternative Refund Anticipation Loan saved 63 taxpayers a minimum of $12,600,” said Brian Zapf, Community Tax Program Director.

For the 2009 season, the program continued its partnership with Catholic Charities to bring free tax preparation to its clientele and added several new sites.  Working with the Town of Dryden,  the Brooktondale Community Center, and the Cornell University Public Service Center, Alternatives expanded its reach to new areas.  If funding is available, Alternatives  expects to continue and expand these efforts to reach additional taxpayers next year.

Alternatives’ Tax Program would like to thank the 75 dedicated volunteers who made this year’s tax season possible.  They are a superb and diverse group of people who are a true pleasure to work with.   Alternatives would also like to thank the staff and volunteers of Tompkins 2-1-1 who did a fantastic job of screening and scheduling all of our taxpayers for appointments at each of our sites.  This partnership in particular embodies the caring and sharing spirit of Tompkins County.

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