RICHMOND — The Virginia Community Action Partnership announced that $485,725 has been awarded to 19 coalitions across Virginia to provide free income tax preparation services under the Internal Revenue Service Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
Virginia Community Action Partnership (VACAP) is the statewide membership association for Virginia’s 31 nonprofit private and public community action agencies.
The VACAP program, called the Virginia CASH Campaign, provides opportunities for taxpayers to file both federal and state tax returns, claim valuable tax credits like the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) and both the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and link taxpayers with financial empowerment opportunities, it said.
“We are very appreciative of Virginia’s Governor and General Assembly for funding this important work. Coalitions have been providing VITA services, in some cases, for over twenty years, including during the pandemic,” said Carolyn Spohrer, Vice President at VACAP.
Last tax filing season, VACAP noted over 19,700 returns were filed, bringing in over $20 million in refunds to communities across Virginia.
Erik Johnston, VACAP President and CEO, said, “Community volunteers, trained and certified by the IRS, have been the backbone of the program. The value of our VITA volunteers translates to over a $10 million contribution to the program.”
“On behalf of our staff and volunteers working with the VITA program, we are pleased to accept this $15,925 grant awards,” said Cheryl Finch, President and CEO of Williamsburg-James City County Community Action Agency (W-JCC CAA). “Being one of 19 grantees from across the Commonwealth enables us to impact the lives of individuals and families as we continue our VITA work as we have for many years here tax filing seasons.
Williamsburg-James City County Community Action Agency will start assisting customers with federal and state tax filing on Feb. 4. For more information, contact Jana Shelton at 757-229-9332 option 4.
