United Way of Western Connecticut Announces Multiple Free Opportunities for Income Tax Filing

 

With tax season upon us, United Way of Western Connecticut is calling attention to programs that are up and running to help Western Connecticut residents file their income taxes: the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program and My FreeTaxes.com. These programs will help residents, particularly those with incomes less than $64,000, file their taxes properly and receive refunds and credits they are due.

“Both VITA and MyFreeTaxes helps put refund money back into taxpayers’ pockets, so that they can pay bills and put money aside to build a more stable financial future,” said Kimberly Morgan, Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Western Connecticut. “We support VITA efforts throughout Western Connecticut. Connecting skilled volunteers with meaningful opportunities to help their neighbors and community rings true with our mission to help households in our region achieve financial stability.”

Through the VITA program, volunteer tax preparers assist taxpayers making less than $53,505 per year to file timely, quality reviewed returns for both state and federal taxes. There are seven VITA sites in United Way of Western Connecticut’s footprint: three in Danbury, one in New Milford, and three in Stamford. A listing of these sites, contact information and hours of operation are available on United Way’s website at www.uwwesternct.org/vita. Information about volunteer opportunities with VITA are also available at that website.

MyFreeTaxes is a free, safe and easy way for anyone earning $64,000 or less to file state and federal taxes, and now includes enhanced security features to designed to further safeguard taxpayer information.

United Way partners with H&R Block to provide free tax filing services for federal and state taxes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, helping more than 750,000 taxpayers nationwide over the past eight years. These tax breaks lead to refunds that provide important opportunities for individuals and families to build their financial stability.

The enhanced security includes encryption technology that helps safeguard sensitive information; several layers of authentication for H&R Block account access which further protects from unauthorized access; and secure connections established between client’s browser and H&R Block servers, encrypting any data that is passed between them to protect the privacy of that data.

Eligibility and features

Taxpayers earning less than $64,000 can enter their data through MyFreeTaxes.com, which links to a secure H&R Block website, making it easy to complete their taxes from home, at work or on mobile devices. The key features of MyFreeTaxes include:

• Free, unlimited, personalized real-time chat and phone support from IRS-certified operators at 1-855-MY-TX-HELP. The helpline, with operators who speak both English and Spanish, operates through April 18 from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm EST Monday through Friday and noon to 9:00 pm EST on Saturday
• Refund Reveal^TM will show filers how and why their refund amount is changing
• MyFreeTaxes is promoted by United Way, and users can contact their local United Way for other local resources, or find ways to volunteer and further support their community
• Advanced functionality for those working in the gig economy or need to include information regarding real estate investments, stock options or inheritance taxes

MyFreeTaxes comes with the same brand promise as all H&R Block’s products: that consumers are guaranteed a maximum refund, 100 percent accuracy and 100 percent satisfaction. H&R Block’s DIY products are based on 60-plus years of preparing income tax returns.