Neighborhood Tax Preparers Featured at Norton’s Tax Fair Press Conference, Saturday
Washington D.C. -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and neighborhood IRS-certified tax preparers, who will prepare taxes free of charge for D.C. residents at Norton's annual Tax & Financial Services Fair, will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 9, 2013. The annual Tax Fair will be from 10 a.m. – noon at the Washington Convention Center, and is open to D.C. residents only.
Norton is focusing on tax preparation centers and non-profit organizations that are available throughout the tax season but are not always known to low-and modest-income residents, the unemployed, or seniors, who will be serviced at the tax fair. Representing preparers and counselors participating in the fair at the press conference will be Teresa Heinz, Executive Director, Community Tax Aid, who represents eight sites throughout the city; Gerard Pieger, D.C. local Tax Advocate, who helps residents who have tax issues with the IRS; and Lee Davenport, Director of MyFreeTaxes.com, who teaches residents how to prepare simple returns.
"We are very concerned that many cough-up scarce funds they can ill afford for commercial tax preparers when there are reputable IRS-certified preparers offering the services free of charge in their own neighborhoods," Norton said. "Volunteer IRS services have no funds to advertise, unlike commercial services. We want to use our one-day tax fair not only to perform this service but to acquaint residents with free tax preparation close to home. Our residents must pay their federal income taxes but as long as D.C. residents are burdened with taxation without representation, we are doing all we can to see that they do not have to pay to pay."
Saturday's tax preparers and counselors are members of Norton's Tax and Financial Advisory Committee, including AARP Foundation, Community Tax Aid VITA Site, DC Government Federal Credit Union VITA Site, DC Tax and Revenue Service, the George Washington University Tax Clinic, MyFreeTaxes.com, the University of the District of Columbia, and IRS Tax Advocate. The committee advices Norton on meeting the tax needs of D.C. residents on such matters as federal changes in tax law and regulation, assisting low-income people in tax related matters and helping settle tax debts and increasing access to banking services through credit unions.
Norton and the Tax and Financial Advisory Committee are promoting the neighborhood tax preparation sites which operate throughout tax season until April 15th. The committee has been concerned that many residents unable to come to Norton's one-day Tax Fair have asked her to extend the Fair. Instead, she is trying to inform residents of free services available through the tax season.
Published: February 8, 2013