We need your help to protect federal funding for VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) and EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit), which are essential to United Way’s Earn It! Keep It! Save It! (EKS) tax assistance program. Take action today to ensure the survival of EKS.
Funding for both the VITA program and the EITC could be on the chopping block as the Congressional Super Committee, which is charged with reducing the federal deficit, makes decisions about which federal programs to cut or preserve.
Of the 212 free tax preparation sites in the EKS Bay Area Coalition, 115 are VITA sites. VITA sites not only provide free tax preparation, and bring millions of dollars back to our region, but also serve as an important gateway to services that low-wage workers need, including low-cost banking, job counseling and financial-skills training.
The EITC is one of the largest federal income-support programs and is intended to make employment more attractive than public assistance by supplementing low-wages and incentivizing work. For many low-income families, the EITC is a substantial credit that can mean the difference between being sheltered or homeless.
We need your help to protect funding for these vital economy-boosting programs. Call Congressmember Xavier Becerra (202-225-6235), our California representative on the “Super Committee,” and tell him to protect funding for VITA and the EITC. By calling today, you’ll join thousands of volunteer tax preparers who are participating in the Day of Action declared by the National Community Tax Coalition, which is a membership organization for community-based organizations offering free tax preparation and financial services to low-income working families.
Your call will help ensure United Way’s Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Coalition continues to grow and succeed. EKS is an important local economic stimulus, which has brought $275 million in tax refunds back to the Bay Area since 2003 – money which is spent locally and which research shows has generated 1,057 jobs in the Bay Area. Read more about the economic impact.
