Tax
Season Ends with 447 volunteers bringing more than $20 million
to low-wage Philadelphia families
PHILADELPHIA, PA May 5, 2006- Hundreds
of local volunteers from The Campaign for Working Families boosted
the paychecks of thousands of low-wage workers this tax season,
bringing $20.5 million in tax refunds
and credits to Philadelphia families.
Volunteers from the Campaign
brought the millions to 12,522 families who filed income tax returns
at one of their 17 free tax sites, located in neighborhoods throughout
Philadelphia.
Over the past four tax seasons,
the Campaign has brought $65.7 million to low-wage families in
Philadelphia.
The Campaign for Working
Families is a partnership that promotes free filing of the federal
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)/PA TAX BACK, and connects Philadelphia
residents to other tax credits, public benefits, and ways to keep
and grow their household incomes. The EITC is a tax benefit
for working people who earned less than $37,263 in 2005.
The tax returns were prepared
by 447 Campaign volunteers, recruited by United Way of Southeastern
Pennsylvania, trained by the Campaign and certified by the IRS.
This year’s results:
- $20.5 million went to low-income working families in Philadelphia.
This amount includes the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), child
tax credit, dependent care credit, education credit and state
tax back refund. One hundred percent of the refunds went directly
to the tax filers.
- Tax returns were filed
for 12,522 individuals at the Campaign’s
17 free tax-filing sites.
- With 92 volunteers,
Valley Forge-based Vanguard topped the list of Philadelphia area
businesses that prepared income tax returns at the Campaign’s
free tax filing sites.
- The average EITC was $1,698.
- The Campaign served low-income
families. The median adjusted gross income of Campaign tax filers
was $14,777.
“We brought $20.5
million directly to Philadelphia families and saved these same
families an additional $4.8 million because they did not have to
pay commercial tax preparers excessive fees, charges and interest
to claim their own money,” said Jean Hunt, executive director
of The Campaign for Working Families.
Hunt’s calculation
is based on a recent test conducted by Community Legal Services,
a Campaign partner. On February 2, 2006, Judith G.
went to H&R Block with her simple tax return. A total
of $382 was paid to H&R Block for Judith G. to receive her
refund in 4 days, instead of the usual 10 days ($272 in tax prep
fees plus an additional $110 for a Refund Anticipation Loan).
“When a family gets
to use their entire EITC check for their own purposes, they can
begin to build their future. They can make a down payment
on a home, help pay for college, improve their credit rating, support
their children’s education or save that money,” Hunt
continued.
An estimated 39,000 eligible
households in Philadelphia do not file EITC claims, leaving approximately
$66.3 million in unclaimed credits. And more than 41 percent of
EITC filers in Philadelphia use commercial tax preparers to obtain
Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs). The annualized interest paid
on these loans can be as high as 700 percent – to provide
cash only a few days before refunds would have arrived.
Click
here for additional information on The Campaign for Working Families.
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