Michael Swayze's Community Resources

Author: Michael Swayze

  • EITC Awareness Day

    Once a year at the end of January the Internal Revenue Services and its partners do a one day media event to advertise the Earned Income Tax Credit program, a tax program that has been around since the Nixon Administration. Today, January 27, 2017, is another EITC Awareness Day.

    The good points about EITC are that it provides tax relief for low and moderate income working families. The IRS even encourages people to take advantage of it. They partner with software companies to make tax filing free to many households. Checkout Free File. EITC tax refunds lift millions out of poverty and make life a little easier.

    The bad news is that one out of five households do not take advantage by claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit. In New Jersey, an estimated 197,000 taxpayers are losing out of an average EITC refund totaling approximately $2350. Do the math – unclaimed tax refunds equal to $462 million. To make matters worse, New Jersey once was recognized as a leader of EITC but now has sunk to near bottom, 45th among 50 states, in the EITC participation rate ranking. See https://www.eitc.irs.gov/EITC-Central/Participation-Rate.

    Here are a few tips. To find a free tax preparation site (generally if you make $54,000 a year or less) visit either NJ 2-1-1 Partnership’s NJ VITA Sites or IRS Get Free Tax Prep Help Page or the AARP Tax-Aide Locator.

    To first find out if you qualify, visit the EITC Assistant. By answering all the questions you can find out if you are eligible for EITC. The tool also provides an estimate of the amount of your credit.

    Employers have a responsibility to let their workers know about this program. They should be distributing a notice titled, “Have You Told Your Employees About the Earned Income Credit (EIC)?” Ask your employer to runoff copies and attach it to W-2 statements.

    There are a number of web sites useful to IRS partners, employers, government agencies/offices and nonprofits. These website provide outreach material, flyers and other social media tools. They include: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Get It Back Campaign and EITC Central. County welfare agencies and One Stop Career Centers distribute the Division of Family Development’s 2016 EITC Fact Sheet.

    EITC Awareness Day – can you afford to do without it?

    Other useful tax preparation assistance information is available at the NJ Community Resources website.

  • Affordable Care Act

    Today, the United States Senate takes up action to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Make your voices heard by telephoning your Senator as I did this morning. So many people have been calling that you might have to leave a voicemail message.

    The message I left was fairly straightforward and was limited to this one topic. My talking points were:

    • Stop the repeal, Senator.
    • The Affordable Care Act is not a catastrophe as the President-elect claims. It has given 20 million people dignity and an opportunity to live better lives.
    • I worked at a county welfare agency and government for forty-three years (recently retired). I’ve seen how some people have had to choose between buying food or going to the doctor or heating their home. Don’t make it harder for them.
    • I’ve spoken with countless people in my community who work more than one job just to make ends meet. Don’t make it harder for them.
    • You’ve been fixing the Social Security Act of 1935 for eight decades. You never once had to repeal that program. Fix ACA, don’t repeal it.

    Call your Senator today. You can use the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to be connected.

  • Resisting Donald Trump

    House Republicans were beaten back today in their efforts to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, an arm of Congress whose mission is to investigate corruption and unethical behavior. A storm of criticism reached Washington with hundreds of calls made to House members either directly or via the United States Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121.

    New Jersey’s two Senators and twelve Representatives are:

    You may want to capture these phone numbers for future action, whether it is to voice your concerns, send a message, or as a sign of protest. You deserve to be heard on matters that are important to you, whether it deals with Cabinet picks, environmental concerns, the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), civil rights/civil liberties, etc.

    You can also access this list online by visiting the House Of Representatives
    Directory of Representatives.