Norton and Mayor Bowser Kick Off Tax Season By Encouraging Low- and Moderate-Income Residents to Use Free IRS-Certified Tax Preparation Services

WASHINGTON, D.C.—To ensure that thousands of District of Columbia residents get their federal and D.C. taxes prepared free of charge, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser today held a press conference at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Also speaking were Eva Liggins, Director of D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue’s Customer Service Administration, Teresa Hinze of Community Tax Aid, representing local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites, and Amy Melrose, a D.C. resident. Despite unprecedented cuts to IRS tax preparation advice and services traditionally available to taxpayers, low- and moderate-income D.C. residents earning less than $54,000 can still receive tax return preparation services at VITA sites in their neighborhoods. D.C. residents can find their nearest VITA site by entering their zip code at https://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/ or by viewing the full list of VITA sites on Norton’s website.

Norton’s full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below.

“I want to particularly thank Mayor Muriel Bowser, Eva Liggins, Director of D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue’s Customer Service Administration, Teresa Heinz of Community Tax Aid, representing our neighborhood VITA sites, and Amy Melrose, a D.C. resident, for coming to help ensure that low and moderate-income residents do not pay to have their taxes prepared without representation when they could get them prepared by IRS-certified tax experts free of charge in their own neighborhoods. Every year for almost two decades, our office initially brought IRS employees themselves to prepare taxes for residents until drastic IRS cuts, and then IRS-certified VITA neighborhood groups, but they too have faced congressional cuts. Residents have depended on our citywide Tax Fair not only for a day of free tax preparation, but also to alert them to free neighborhood sites that do the same preparation throughout the tax season until April 15.

“Today’s press conference is nothing less than a special alert to low- and moderate-income D.C. residents who earned up to $54,000 last year that they should not pay for what they can get from IRS-certified tax experts free of charge where they live.

“The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the largest and most centrally-located VITA site in the city, is open every day of the week except for Friday, but there are VITA sites across the city, at least one in every ward. D.C. residents already pay the highest taxes per capita in the nation – without a vote in Congress to add insult to injury! We therefore feel a special obligation to help low- or moderate-income resident find their way to free VITA tax preparation sires.

“Here briefly is what residents need to know.

• “Since 2010, the IRS budget has been slashed by 18%, cuts resulting in more than half of all phone calls to the IRS going unanswered.
• “Our neighborhood VITA sites staffed by IRS-certified experts are now the first and last resort for a guarantee to get your full refund without being charged. Beware of commercial businesses looking to take advantage by offering, for example, to prepare your federal taxes for free, but then charging a fee for preparing state tax returns.
• “Go to your neighborhood VITA sites even if you earned so little last year that you don’t owe any income taxes because you may qualify for one of many tax credits and benefits anyway. You will hear more from Ms. Melrose about perhaps the most significant—the Earned Income Tax Credit—which not only reduces the amount of taxes owed, but also may give a refund—in addition to the District’s own EITC that complements the federal credit. In addition to the EITC, residents who may qualify for other federal tax credits, including the American Opportunity Tax Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, and the Saves Tax Credit, all designed to benefit low- and moderate-income earners. It is worth going to a neighborhood VITA site to find out.
• “Beware of fraud with rise of tax scammers, who call and pretend to be from the IRS and demand unpaid taxes. Although the IRS will never contact you by phone, since 2013, nearly one million fake calls have been placed, robbing 5,000 victims of over $28.5 million.

“We will be waging a campaign until April 15 to help residents get honest, expert help at VITA sites. The full list of every VITA site in the city, along with their hours, is on my website. We have also posted a tool from the IRS website that allows people to type in their zip code and locate the VITA site closest to them. My office also will be available throughout the tax season to be helpful to all D.C. residents, even if they are not low- or moderate-income earners.”