Muhlenberg Students Participate In Tax Preparation Service For Low-Income Citizens
25 students from Muhlenberg College recently participated in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to provide free tax filing assistance to Allentown residents.Thursday, May 12, 2005 09:21 AM
25 students from Muhlenberg College recently participated in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to provide free tax filing assistance to Allentown residents. In partnership with the Community Action Committee of Lehigh Valley, led by Lawrence Obiero, participating students received extensive training and certification from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and then worked 8-10 hours on site helping families with their taxes.
Developed by the IRS, the VITA program helps low-wage workers obtain free tax filing assistance and education about the Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credit. 260 returns were filed, up from 183 the previous year. The free tax preparation program, earned the families $401,752 in federal refunds, an average of $1,545 per family. It is also estimated that the families saved $21,840 by simply eliminating the need for a commercial tax preparation service.
Muhlenberg was one of three sites that participated in the CACLV program, which generated $813,046 in refunds for 620 clients overall.
