Tag: IRS

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.

EITC Awareness Day – January 25, 2013

EITC Awareness Day is a one-day blitz for mainstream and social media to reach the broadest possible range of potentially eligible taxpayers. In 2012, 26.5 million low and moderate income households received $60.7 billion under the Earned Income Tax Credit. If you worked and had income under $50,270 find out if your are eligible for EITC.

There are a number of contact points to determine if you qualify. They include calling the Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-829-1040 or the New Jersey Division of Taxation at 888-895-9179. In New Jersey you can call the 2-1-1 Partnership by dialing 2-1-1 or 877-652-1148 to get free help filing your taxes.

Free help in preparing your tax return – you can claim EITC even if you had nothing withheld from your paycheck – is available through the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide or at Volunteers in Tax Assistance (VITA) sites throughout New Jersey and nationwide. The 2-1-1 Partnership maintains a list of VITA and AARP Tax Assistance Sites in New Jersey.

Also, a number of organizations in and near New Jersey promote EITC and provide free tax preparation service to qualifying individuals and families. They are:
Mercer County CASH Campaign
Newark Now
New Jersey Citizen Action
Our neighbors in Philadelphia can also contact either Ceiba or Campaign for Working Families.

Nonprofit organizations that wish to become actively involved in promoting EITC should contact either the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities or the National Community Tax Coalition.

Additional details and web links are available on New Jersey Community Resources website on the Earned Income Tax Credit page.

To claim your EITC tax credit you must file a tax return.

EITC Awareness Day – January 28, 2011

Earned Income Tax Credit Can Put Money in Your Pocket

You could be eligible to get more money back from the IRS – as much as $5,666.

If you earned less than $48,362 from wages, self-employment or farming last year, you may qualify for a refundable tax credit called the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. But you must file a federal income tax return claiming the credit to get it.

EITC can be a big financial boost for working people hit by hard economic times. Many individuals who saw their incomes drop in 2010 may qualify for the first time.

The credit has been making the lives of workers a little easier for more than 35 years. Yet it remains little known, possibly because people move into and out of eligibility as their financial, marital and parental statuses change. IRS estimates four of five eligible people claim and get their EITC.

Unlike other tax credits, both EITC eligibility and the amount of the credit is based on several factors such as the source and amount of your income, or combined incomes if married, whether you have qualifying children and how many. Workers without children also may qualify.

The amount of the credit peaks then phases out at certain income limitations depending on filing status and other factors. You may qualify for EITC even if you had no federal tax withheld or are not otherwise required to file.

The credit is complex, but worth exploring. It’s even more valuable if your state has a corresponding tax credit. (New Jersey does have their own.)

The online EITC Assistant at www.irs.gov/eitc can help determine your eligibility and estimate the amount of your credit. Free help preparing your return and claiming EITC is available at volunteer income tax assistance sites and IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers. To locate a volunteer site, call your community’s 211 or 311 number for local services or call the IRS at 1-800-906-9887. Find an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center in the blue pages of your telephone directory.

Remember: if you are eligible, you must file a federal income tax return, even if you are not otherwise required to file, and you must specifically claim the credit to get it. Find more information about EITC at www.irs.gov or in your tax software package.

According to the IRS, rural and non-traditional families — such as grandparents raising grandchildren — childless workers, and non-English speaking taxpayers are among those who most frequently overlook the credit.