Press Conference at Norton’s Tax and Financial Services Fair, Saturday

WASHINGTON, DC – At a press conference on Saturday, February 15, 2014 at 11:00 a.m., during her free Tax and Financial Services Fair, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will be joined by Solomon Keene, President of the Hotel Association of Washington, D.C., and Teresa Hinze, Executive Director of Community Tax Aid. Norton will address the status of several of her D.C. tax initiatives, including the $5,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. Solomon Keene will speak to the potential benefit to D.C. businesses of Norton's pending bill to offer employers a $5,000 tax credit against the payroll tax liability for each new net person hired who has been unemployed for 27 weeks, which would encourage employers to look twice at the long-term unemployed. Teresa Hinze will highlight the effect on Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites of continued budget cuts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Due to their limited budget, the IRS Service Centers are no longer preparing the returns of residents who walk into their offices, but are referring them to the VITA sites with no additional resources given to the VITA sites. One of the purposes of Norton's one-day Fair, which runs from 10:00 a.m. until noon, is to acquaint residents with free tax services available at neighborhood VITA sites until April 15.

WHO: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

Solomon Keene, President, Hotel Association of Washington, D.C.

Teresa Hinze, Executive Director, Community Tax Aid

WHAT: Press Conference

WHEN: Saturday, February 15, 2014, at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Walter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mt. Vernon Place NW), Room 149A

BACKGROUND: The Tax and Financial Services Fair is for D.C. residents only, and preparation of tax forms is only available to residents with a household income of less than $52,000 a year and income only from wages, salaries, and pensions. Norton's one-day Fair features tax preparers who serve on Norton's Congressional Tax and Financial Services Advisory Committee, whose services are available throughout tax season, until April 15. The Fair offers not only tax preparation, but also financial services, including information on the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program, college savings plans, and how to sign-up for credit unions.

Members of the Tax and Financial Services Advisory Committee participating in the Fair are: AARP, Community Tax Aid/DC EITC Campaign DC EITC Campaign, DC Employees Federal Credit Union, DC Office of Tax & Revenue, George Washington University Law School, Howard University, Janet R. Spragans Federal Tax Clinic, Taxpayer Advocate Service, UDC School of Business, UDC Low Income Tax Clinic.