The HOPE Initiative in the Martinsville Bulletin
Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 1:56 PM Coalition Partners | Press Releases | VITA
"Local VITA Tax Aid Sites Draw Crowds"
People seeking to fill out the tax forms to get their federal economic stimulus checks are flooding the VITA free tax assistance sites. About 600 people have gone to the sites to do this, even though it takes five minutes to fill out the 1040A forms and they are available around the community and online, according to Alicia Solomon, coordinator of the HOPE initiative, which operates the three local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites.
The 600 are in addition to the 264 federal tax returns prepared through February, Solomon said. Those returns refunded $275,344 back to clients; the average refund is $1,122. By comparison, last year, the HOPE Initiative completed 104 free income tax returns, resulting in $93,035 in refunds.