- It’s tax season, which can be a stressful time– especially for low income families.
- A local organization provides a year-round resource to help file income taxes– without having to break the bank.
- To check your eligibility or make an appointment with VITA, call 2-1-1.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
In 2006, CAPK started offering its volunteer income tax assistance program, OR VITA, to Kern County.
“It began with maybe 100 tax returns being done,” said Jacquelyn Guerra, the VITA program administrator. She says the program has taken in 84 clients– just on Tuesday.
She says this past tax season, the program assisted in more than 10,000 returns throughout Kern.
“This is something we’ve done for years. We’ve started out with VITA and we’ve just continued with their great finding system and everything. We’ve never had any problems,” said Eric Gonzales, who has been a VITA client for about nine years and encourages those eligible to take advantage of this resource.
“It’s a great program that is set up for people who can’t afford to pay the fees at some of the local income taxes,” said Gonzales. “So I think it’s a great program that provides quality income tax return services for all of us here in Bakersfield.”
And VITA continues to expand throughout the county.
“New this year, we will be at the Mountains [Communities] Family Resource Center in Frazier Park. That is something we’re excited to bring to the community. We had attended some outreach events out there and saw that there was a need,” said Guerra.
This outreach comes especially as tensions are high with recent politics.
Following the recent I.C.E raids in Kern County, Guerra says many clients worry that their information could be used against them.
But she reassures the community that the program is not allowed to share any information with any outside agencies.
“Here at 19th street, we offer, besides tax preparation, we are certified acceptance agents and that means that we’re able to process ITIN applications which are for undocumented individuals,” said Guerra. “I know it’s a scary time to trust people right now, but we are here to be the middleman between our undocumented immigrants that do pay taxes and help them get the correct filings in.”
To check your eligibility or make an appointment with VITA, call 2-1-1.
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