Lizzie Hammond was in line at the Villager Mall Wednesday for free help with her income tax return through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
“It’s helped me,” said Hammond, who was using the service for the third year running. “They explain everything and tell you what to bring.”
….More than 100 volunteer preparers are working various shifts at the Villager Mall site this year….They include retired revenue employees, volunteers from AARP and members of Beta Alpha Psi, an accounting fraternity.
Photo by David Sandell/The Capital Times
Volunteers help people with their income taxes at the Villager Mall.
“Pay my bills,” she said.The VITA program is a joint program of the Internal Revenue Service and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue that uses volunteer preparers to help taxpayers file their income tax returns.The program, offered around the country, has 26 sites in Dane County this year. Locations and information can be reached through a link at www.dor.state.wi.us or by calling 266-2772.Richard Dilley, an education specialist with the state Department of Revenue, said the program in Dane County has assisted with 4,000 returns this season, about 500 above the pace of last year.The program has helped put $1 million in refunds in taxpayers’ hands through the earned income credit alone, Dilley said. That tax break is designed to supplement the earnings of low- and moderate-income workers.All told, the local program, now in its fifth year, has secured more than $3.5 million in federal tax refunds for its users, Dilley said.Annie Coaker, a senior citizen who is raising her grandson, said Wednesday she got better service at VITA last year than she has gotten at commercial tax preparers.More than 100 volunteer preparers are working various shifts at the Villager Mall site this year, Dilley said. They include retired revenue employees, volunteers from AARP and members of Beta Alpha Psi, an accounting fraternity. They get six hours of training, he said.
