Free Tax Assistance Available In Rockwood

The Rockwood Weed and Seed Program, a federal program that funded improvement efforts, wrapped up in September, but one of the programs created to benefit local residents remains. The VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Program is something that the IRS coordinated with Weed and Seed sites all over the country and the Rockwood Weed and Seed signed on for a multiple year effort to provide free tax preparation within the Rockwood Community. The program also works to educate and encourage illegal immigrants to file their taxes.

Having people get their taxes done in low income areas potentially benefits the area. In many cases, people qualify for the Earned Income Credit, which brings additional dollars to the people in our community, and hopefully feeds back into our local economy. Many of these people who pay taxes don't necessarily know how to recoup this money, assume the fees are too high for what they will get back, don't know they can legally apply for it, or know that they can submit a return even if they don't have a social security number.

The Tax Aide Program, which will be set up at the Rockwood Community Office at 187th and SE Stark will file individual's taxes for free, utilizing AARP volunteers who have been trained in tax preparation. Everyone, regardless of income level is welcomed to use the service. In fact, to kick off the program the first year, the City's Police Chief, Carla Piluso, had her taxes done for free as an attestation of the reliability of the program. For tax payers who do not have a social security number, the IRS can assign Individual Tax Identification Numbers, which allows the returns to be processed, and reportedly does not coordinate nor share information with the Immigration Department.

Questions about the free tax preparation program can be directed to Police Activities League or to the Rockwood Community Office. The program is expected to kick off at the beginning of February.