Again this tax season, CAN-DO – Newton’s longtime non-profit affordable housing advocate and service provider – is partnering with The Village Bank to inform Newton residents about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and to help low-income people file for it. This year, the kick-off event is EITC Awareness Day on January 31, 2025.
The CAN-DO program is Newton’s local office of the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program — a national program that trains local volunteers to help low-income people file tax returns for free and claim these credits. CAN-DO reports that it now has eight IRS-certified tax preparers for its Newton site.
The EITC is a refundable tax credit taxpayers may claim on their tax return that “helps low- to moderate-income workers and families get a tax break. If you qualify, you can use the credit to reduce the taxes you owe – and maybe increase your refund,” according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
People earning less than $63,398 can benefit from the EITC, depending on marital status and family size. The IRS offers an online questionnaire to help determine eligibility.
EITC Awareness Day, according to IRS Senior Stakeholder Relationship Tax Consultant, Yemti Ndienla, is an opportunity “to increase awareness among potentially eligible taxpayers at the time when most of them are filing or getting ready to file their federal income tax returns. The IRS joins partners nationwide to launch the Awareness Day outreach campaign to ensure millions of workers get the credits they earned and deserve.”
“IRS estimates four of five eligible taxpayers claim and get the EITC. Best of all, EITC combined with the CTC/ACTC/ODC is a financial boost for working people and your local economy. EITC and the CTC greatly reduce poverty for working families. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities asserts that in 2018 the EITC lifted 5.6 million people above the poverty line, including nearly 3 million children, based on the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM).
“The EITC and Child Tax Credit together lifted 10.6 million people above the SPM poverty line and made poverty less severe for 17.5 million others in 2018. (CBPP, April 28, 2023, Chuck Marr, Kris Cox, John Wancheck and Stephanie Hingtgen),” according to Ndienla.
On Friday, January 31, “NewTV will air an interview featuring CAN-DO staff and volunteers with information about who is eligible for the credit (see video). The IRS also uses the day to highlight FREE tax preparation and electronic filing of tax returns at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites such as the one sponsored by CAN-DO at its site located at 413 Watertown Street in Newton,” says the CAN-DO website.
The CAN-DO/VITA office opened on January 28 and is accepting requests for appointments with CAN-DO staff and volunteers for free tax-filing. The first appointments will be on February 8.
Bella Ishanyan is a Fig City News student reporter, Massachusetts High School Journalist of the Year, and a freshman at UMass Amherst.
