Home > News Room > Press Releases > Children's Defense Fund Opens Third Tax Filing Site in Joint Campaign to Aid Low-Income Taxpayers

For Immediate Release
January 27, 2006 

Children's Defense Fund Opens Third Tax Filing Site in Joint Campaign to Aid Low-Income Taxpayers

Children's Defense Fund Partners with Local Faith and-Community-Based Organizations and Coalitions for Free Tax Filing Sites

Contact:  David Ruffin, (202) 662-3613, druffin@childrensdefense.org, or
Jodi Reid, (202) 662-3602, jreid@childrensdefense.org

Washington , D.C. Following Mayor Williams’ press conference on Tuesday on the Internal Tax and Revenue (OTR) tax preparation assistance, The Children’s Defense Fund will be opening their third Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site to assist as part of the D.C. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) campaign. Thecampaign is a way to alleviate the income tax-filing issue that has plagued millions of low-income American workers each year, including tens of thousands here in our nation’s capital. Low- to moderate-income D.C. working families lost $2.6 million of their earned refunds during the 2004 tax season in exchange for collecting those refunds about 10 days sooner in some instances.

As tax season approaches, many of the country’s working poor are unaware that they are eligible for the EITC, a refundable federal tax credit for people who work full- or part-time but earn low wages. The EITC, which can be worth up to $4,400, enables workers to use their refunds to cover such expenses as rent, utilities, food and childcare, thereby improving their families’ lives while directly reducing poverty levels. Knowing about the EITC for low-income workers, some unscrupulous tax preparers target these individuals, offering them “rapid refunds” through Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs), deceptive high-interest loans that typically carry exorbitant preparation fees and are secured by the taxpayers’ refund.

Beginning Saturday, January 28, and continuing until April 14, Children’s Defense Fund will operate a free tax-filing site in conjunction with their partner organization, S.O.M.E. So Others Might Eat/Shalom House, a nonprofit existing to serve the poor and homeless of our nation’s capital with food, clothing, affordable housing, and healthcare.

• When: January 28, 2006 through April 14, 2006
  Saturdays, 9 am 2 pm 
• Where: S.O.M.E./Shalom House
  1876 4 TH Street, NE
  (202) 797-0701 x 110 
• Why: The EITC is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs nationwide and in the District. Through CDF and their joint partners’ initiatives, more than 3,500 low-income D.C. residents were able to collectively receive over $4.7 million in refunds. 
• What: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites are managed by volunteers who receive training in both tax law and TaxWise software and offer free tax preparation to any individual making $15,000 or less per year and families making $38,000 or less . 
• Contact: To schedule an interview with Richelle Friedman, CDF’s EITC coordinator, please contact Lauren Lawson at (202) 662-3592 or at llawson@childrensdefense.org
   

To find the VITA site nearest to you, please call x 211 or go to: http://www.dceitc.org/