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> Volunteer Tax Preparers Needed

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program

Newark Now's VITA program has been assisting members of the community by providing free income tax preparation since 2004. Since the program began the VITA program has prepared over 18,000 income tax returns, this has resulted in over $25 million in federal and state refunds for those using these services. During tax season, January 15th through April 15th, we had 6 sites that provided the free tax services. By the end of July the VITA program prepared 3,950 tax returns resulting in over 6.9 million in federal and state refunds. Free tax preparation is still available by appointment at the Financial Empowerment Center.

All our tax preparers are certified through the IRS Link and Learn Training program. In addition our new volunteers, interns and staff go through our Income Tax Academy, a 5-week course that is in the fall. During non-tax season we also conduct outreach and awareness workshops on tax issues.

We are currently recruiting and training volunteers and interns for the upcoming tax season. We already have setup internship programs with several local colleges. We will be having tax academy at our Financial Empowerment Center beginning again in November as well as a couple local colleges.

Something We Have Noticed

The majority of our post tax-season clients are filing taxes because they are being required to file by the IRS. Many of which owe on one or more years. However in many cases the clients actually have been eligible for refunds for one or multiple years. But if the client did not file within three years they are no longer eligible for the refund. But if the client owes they have to pay penalty and interest for the late filing. Thus it is always best to file on time.

Also, we have seen an increase in identity theft among our tax clients. Each year the number of tax clients whose returns are rejected because someone else already used their name and social security number doubles. The number of returns that are rejected because a dependent is claimed on another person's tax return has also been increasing. Because of this trend it is especially important that we safeguard our personal identifiable information and to be very careful who we share this information with. In addition, everyone should be careful who they get their taxes prepared by and ensure they are reputable and will safeguard their personal identifiable information.

More taxpayers are also looking for assistance with amending tax returns they filed elsewhere. This shows that more mistakes have been done on their tax returns if they don't use a reliable tax preparation services. Also the number of taxpayers coming in for assistance because the have problems with the IRS is also growing. Thus we emphasis the importance of having the taxes prepared on-time and prepared correctly. Another trend we have seen is the increase of taxpayers that under-withhold for income taxes. There are several reasons why this is occurring. Reasons include but are not limited to:

• Taxpayer does not withhold taxes on unemployment, social security or retirement income

• Taxpayer has multiple jobs

• Taxpayer put too many exemptions on W4

• Taxpayer and Spouse both work and on W4s they list themselves as Married
as opposed to Married but Withhold at Single

Who We Help

Mrs. M.D. had some tax related issues with the IRS and was required to file some back taxes by a certain deadline to avoid her income garnished. She was running late and wasn't going to meet the deadline. We were able to help her file all her back taxes. In her testimony, she said:

“My experience at Newark Now was nothing short of wonderful! Everyone was professional and more importantly — helpful. I came with what I thought was a difficult tax preparation, and walked out with my taxes done and valuable information…All for FREE!! Thank you Newark Now Team!!”
- M.D.

Helpful Q & A

Question: Unless you have significant business income/ expenses or capital gains/ losses you probably can get your taxes done for free by IRS certified preparers. Do you know whether you can go for this?

Question: Did you know Newark Now has the only Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (Free tax Preparation) opened year round in northern New Jersey?

Question: Did you withhold enough for your taxes this past year (Tax Year 2010). If not did you change your withholdings with an updated W-4?

Response: Newark Now can help updating your W-4.

Question: Did you ever not file a tax return for a year that you worked or had income?

Question: How far can the IRS go back and review your tax returns?

Question: If you had an income tax refund did you save any of it? If so how much do you still have?

Building Partnerships Across Our Community

We participated in Berkeley College Career Fair this past month. We had about 15 students that were interested in volunteering or doing an internship. Other recruiting meetings/events this month brought 23 students who are interested in signing up for internship from NJCU, Seton Hall and Kean University. They are interested about volunteer opportunities, internships, and part-time jobs. We are still receiving resumes in for internship positions.

At Rutgers Business School we participated in recruiting event that had over 60 students.

Training for our Tax Academy has started. We are holding the Tax Academy at five different places:

• FEC on Tuesday and Thursday evenings

• One Stop Career Center at 990 Broad St, Newark on Saturdays

• Rutgers Business School (for Rutgers students only) on Monday and Wednesday evenings

• New Jersey City University (for NJCU students only) on Tuesday and Thursday evenings

• In Paterson at the Robert Clemente School on Saturdays in December

We are now recruiting many of our interns and volunteers for the upcoming tax season. We will bring aboard approximately 25 to 30 interns and another 80 volunteers. This year we will be managing or supporting 14 total VITA sites. So we need more volunteers than this past year.

VITA Tax Academy Training is Resuming at all Newark Now Training Locations.

Class Schedule

Financial Empowerment Center
Classes on Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Rutgers Business School
Classes for Rutgers Students only
Monday and Wednesday from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

NJCU Career Center
Classes for New Jersey City University Students only
Tuesday and Thursday from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM

One Stop Career Center
Classes on Saturday from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM (these are 2 classes combined)

In Paterson at the Robert Clemente School on Saturdays in December

For more information on the classes call 973-624-3733. For the Saturday classes you need to register in advance with the One Stop Career Center by calling (973) 733-4311. For other classes you can register during the first class.

We are in search of Volunteer Tax Preparers for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA). For past years Newark Now has operated volunteer-driven tax sites in the Newark area - making the free tax program one of the largest statewide programs of its kind.