Children's
Defense Fund Partners with Local Faith and-Community-Based Organizations
and Coalitions to Provide Free Tax Filing Sites
Children's
Defense Fund
The VITA sites are part of the D.C. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) campaign
--- a citywide, cross-sector initiative that educates D.C. taxpayers,
particularly those with low incomes, about issues related to income taxes
and economic security.
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.
Some unscrupulous commercial paid 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.
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.
