Putting dollars back in NRV resident pockets
Qualifying taxpayers in the New River Valley have been served for more than a decade by Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteers through a coalition administered by New River Community Action (NRCA). This year, 13 program volunteers served over 650 taxpayers. VITA sites are provided at NRCA’s Emergency Assistance Offices located in Floyd, Pulaski, and Christiansburg as well as the Commissioner of Revenue offices in Montgomery County and the City of Radford.
The fiscal goal of VITA is to maintain and increase assets for qualified taxpayers—helping families move closer to financial stability. A key component to this is ensuring hardworking families get the tax credits they are eligible for —such as the Earned Income and Child Tax credits- without incurring costs to pay a professional tax preparer (with fees generally ranging from $60 to $350). Putting dollars back into the pockets of clients leads to more disposable income being spent throughout the region and boosting the New River Valley’s economy. This year, the NRCA VITA Collaborative helped clients receive approximately $818,000 collectively.
The whole community benefits when working people can turn a vulnerable financial situation into a pathway to success and these success stories are where we see the human significance of VITA. Some might be shocked to learn how little income that many hard-working families in the NRV are required to live off of, and how significant receiving income tax credits are for their financial survival. Casting aside certain stereotypes enables one to see a more accurate image of the majority of clients being served:
- A single mother of three who works two jobs and also supports a disabled family member on less than the federal poverty level ($28,780 for a family of 5) who qualified for Child Tax and Earned Income Tax Credits and used her refund to prevent her house from going into foreclosure
- The widowed retiree raising her grandchild who had to secure a job working outside of the home to supplement her social security benefits used her refund to pay for legal assistance to obtain full custody of the child and also to hire a professional to help her navigate the process of acquiring an IEP for the child due to an ADHD diagnosis (this same client used her refund the previous tax year to pay for the professional assessment leading to the ADHD diagnosis).
- A low-income working mother who qualified for the Earned Income Credit used her refund to pay off the balance on a high-interest credit card that she had to use in order to replace her refrigerator when it stopped working.
- As one client stated when told he could be fit in for a session at the last minute due to a cancellation “I really need to get this done and shouldn’t have waited so late in the season — I have had health problems and depression and it all seemed so overwhelming to me. But I really need to file and use my refund to get new tools since I want to start a business as a handyman. I hope that helps both my income and depression. I wish I could do something nice for your program—maybe build something for your office once I get my tools. I really appreciate you all helping me.”
Volunteers serving this year’s clients echoed a similar sentiment, that “people are so appreciative of the help.” In the vast majority of cases the clients don’t view the service as an entitlement but express gratitude at receiving IRS- certified assistance at no cost. As one volunteer stated “poverty is stressful; many of these people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I think what VITA does is provide a human presence and reassurance to people who feel unable to manage tax filing themselves. Many people are scared they will make a mistake if they try it themselves. I think a big part of VITA is helping to take the fear away.”
The heroes that make the VITA human success stories possible are the volunteers, who navigate each year’s tax code after extensive training and passing a fairly rigorous certification test. In addition to the hours spent studying the tax law materials, doing practice tests, and taking the certification exam (all NRV VITA volunteers certify at the Advanced Tax Law level), they provide tax assistance throughout the filing season and this year committed over 1,000 hours of service in many scenarios:
- One client moved here from out of state after a divorce and had low income so had to sell several investments to buy a house. She was concerned that capital gains might cause a tax bill but was relieved when the VITA volunteer understood the law well enough to actually get her a refund.
- Another client, coming up on divorce, was shown the difference in taxes between married filing separately and as a single head of household. She saw how important it was to finalize the divorce, so she can properly file next year as head of household (a more beneficial filing status).
Many older people receiving social security retiree benefits were helped by having volunteers explain to them that social security benefits are taxable if the sum of their adjusted gross income, nontaxable interest and half of their social security benefits exceeds $25,000 as an individual and $32,000 as a married couple. In other words, there were a number of cases when clients did not have to file, and they needed to have a volunteer walk them through the tax program to show them.
This year, New River Community Action’s VITA program thanks to the following individuals for their outstanding commitment to service:
Montgomery County Commissioner of Revenue Helen Royal and staff members Jesse Moore, Heather Huff, Tammy Lester, Chassidi Graham, Brenda Winkle; City of Radford Commissioner of Revenue Cathy Flinchum and staff members Peggy Hopkins and Cindy Olinger; Lee Henkel (celebrating a decade of service!), Gilbert Vice, John Byrne, and Kevin Guimont.