The United Way of Southwest Michigan is thanking its volunteers after another busy season of its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, or VITA.
The VITA program offers free tax preparation for clients who earn $67,000 per year or less. United Way project coordinator Sara Barlow tells us the latest VITA program had 46 volunteers filling out taxes at eight locations across the three-county area.
“They put in over 2,000 hours to assist over almost 1,100 clients with getting their tax returns filed, and we brought back approximately $1.46 million back to the community,” Barlow said.
Barlow says the volunteers are of all ages, some with backgrounds as accountants or tax preparers.
“Some are retired. Some are still working. Some have an accounting, finance, business background. Some just want to help. I have young and I have older men and women. So it’s really a wide variety who just like to assist and like to help members of the community.”
Each volunteer must go through federally-approved training and pass an exam.
The VITA program started in 1971, and Barlow has been overseeing it locally for seven years now.
“And it’s fun to see our clients return year after year. We have a lot that do return each year and it’s kind of like a homecoming and they recognize our tax volunteers who are doing taxes and I always enjoy seeing them as well.”
United Way of Southwest Michigan is actively recruiting volunteers for future VITA seasons. No prior tax experience is required and training is provided. To learn more about how you can help your neighbors keep more of what they earn, contact Sara Barlow at sara.barlow@uwsm.org or (269) 982-4029.
