United Way VITA services are offered Monday through Thursday from11:00 am - 5:00 pm
at our offices in Orleans and St. Tammany.
Please contact vita@unitedwaysela.org for more information, dial 211, or call 504.822-5540.
VITA Offers Free Tax Help
Did you earn less than $59,187 last year? Our VITA program offers free tax help to individuals, families, persons with disabilities, the elderly and limited English speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns. IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals. Please contact your local VITA office for more information.
Earned more than $59,187? You may qualify to file your taxes online.
Know Before You Go
Most sites will open in late January. View the latest VITA Brochure.
IRS certified volunteers will provide free basic income tax preparation with electronic filing and direct deposit of refunds to qualified individuals.
Site types and schedules are self-reported and subject to change. Please call for more information.
Drop-Off Site: Taxpayers leave their personal identifiable information (social security numbers, Form W-2, and other documents) at the site. It is mandatory that all taxpayers return to the site to review, sign, and pick-up their completed return with all personal documents before returns can be electronically filed or paper returns can be mailed.
Combination Site: Site prepares returns for other permanent or temporary sites and assits walk-in and/or appointment-only taxpayers within their location.
Virtual Site: Includes non face-to-face interactions with the taxpayer. This includes sending required documents (social security numbers, Form W-2, and other documents) through a secured file sharing system to a designated volunteer for review.
Traditional: Taxpayers leave their personal identifiable information (social security numbers, Form W-2 and other documents) at the site in order to prepare and/or review the tax return at another location. In this process, the taxpayer’s tax return information may be sent to another location for one or more of the following reasons: interviewing the taxpayer, preparing the tax return, or performing a quality review. The taxpayer may come back to the intake site for the quality review or to review and sign the completed tax return.
Why VITA
People in great need often file early - and at great expense - through commercial tax preparation services that charge large fees. We want to spread the word that FREE tax help is available. By filing returns at local VITA sites people receive 100% of their refund. IRS-trained volunteers can help you find special tax credits.
IRS-certified volunteers who provide tax counseling are often retired individuals associated with non-profit organizations that receive grants from the IRS. Taxpayers who come to free tax preparation sites can find out about programs that will help them leverage their refunds toward the financial success of their families. These asset-building programs provide financial education, homebuyer's education, down payment assistance and low-interest car loans.
If you qualify for free tax help, you may also qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Qualify for Free Tax Help?
You May Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
EITC, the Earned Income Tax Credit, sometimes called EIC or Earned Income Credit is a refundable tax credit. EITC can reduce the federal tax to zero and any unused credit is refunded.
EITC provides a boost to workers, their families and the communities where they live. It helps with food, gas, clothing, saving for a rainy day and more.
To qualify, workers must have taxable income from working for someone or from running a business or farm. Four out of five eligible workers already benefit from the EITC. Yet some people who qualify don't know it exists, or how to claim it.
MyFreeTaxes.Com - File for FREE online
MyFreeTaxes.com helps people file their taxes for free while getting the assistance they need. United Way provides MyFreeTaxes in partnership with the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to help filers prepare their tax returns on their own or have their return prepared for them for free.
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