Call Senator Rob Portman at (202) 224-3353

and urge him to support the VITA Act of 2011(S. 816)

Under the Community Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, volunteers trained in tax preparation provide low- and moderate-income individuals and families with free tax preparation and filing assistance.  The majority of taxpayers served by the program earn an annual household income of less than $40,000 and are members of traditionally hard-to-reach and under-served communities including people with disabilities, low-income working families, and the elderly.

While the VITA program has enjoyed some level of federal funding since 2008, there is no federal authorization of the program.  The VITA Act of 2011 ensures sustainability of this vital community service by authorizing an annual appropriation of $30 million in matching grants to eligible community VITA programs to be used for program operation, taxpayer outreach, and related financial services offered at tax time.  Ohio has five coalitions that receive VITA funding.

Please call Senator Rob Portman and ask him to co-sponsor the VITA Act of 2011.  Tell him that taxpayers, communities and the federal government benefit from a strong community VITA program.  Tell him that:

• During the 2009 Federal income tax filing season, VITA programs prepared more than 400,000 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) returns, more than 200,000 Child Tax Credit (CTC) returns, and $30 million in returns for educational tax credits.
• Last year returns filed by VITA programs yielded $1.6 billion to low- and moderate-income taxpayers – dollars directly invested into communities in which taxpayers live and work.
• In the 2008 tax year, EITC claims brought more than $2 billion in federal refunds to Ohio.  Many of these EITC returns were completed by volunteer tax preparers.
• Recent studies estimate that each additional EITC dollar generates $1.58 in local economic activity.
• Volunteer tax preparation programs save the IRS an estimated $1.8 billion per year in return processing costs thanks to the higher than average rate of electronic filing on behalf of VITA clients.
• VITA assists the IRS with overall tax compliance, as many VITA clients are first time filers.

Call Senator Portman (202-224-3353 or 614-469-6774)
and encourage him to co-sponsor the VITA Act of 2011 (S. 816).

Please contact Valerie Ridgeway at 614-227-2706 (valerie.ridgeway@uwcentralohio.org)
with questions or to report your call.  Thank you!