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Tax Site Management & Operation

Tax preparation sites are managed by local organizations with close ties to the community. The host organizations are responsible for day-to-day operations of the free tax program, with the assistance of a paid site manager. UWKC provides cross site management and supervision of site managers and volunteers.

Community partnerships are critical to program success, especially in terms of outreach. Word of mouth brings in a majority of our clients so housing tax sites in trusted community organizations that have pre-existing community relationships is key. Community partners include nonprofit agencies, faith-based organizations, public and private organizations with roots in the community, banking and other financial institutions, organized labor and job training and placement agencies.

All tax preparation sites for this campaign need to have the capacity to prepare and file returns electronically. This requires computers for each volunteer (with the speed and memory necessary to run the tax preparation software). Internet access and telephone service is provided at each site so that returns can be transmitted to the IRS, volunteers can access help from the IRS and software support, and clients can call for tax information they may not have on hand. TaxWise software is provided by the IRS. Computers are primarily provided through corporate donations and through the local IRS computer loan program.

The EITC Campaign filed 82% of tax returns electronically in 2005

Federal Way Multi-Service Center

The Federal Way EITC site represents a successful model for building a community tax site. Multi-Service Center, City of Federal Way, Orion Industries, St. Francis Hospital, Federal Way Youth and Family Services, the Federal Way School District, and a host of other community and business partners worked together on outreach, organization and volunteer recruitment. They provided on site greeters, volunteers and offered a welcoming environment for tax customers.

  • Returns Prepared
244
  • Total Federal Refunds
$340,274
  • Average Refund
$1,395
  • Total EITC
$136,745
  • Average EITC
$1,609
  • # EITC Claimants
85
  • % EITC Claimants
35%
  • Total Child Tax Credit
$107,255
  • Average AGI
$20,670
"I had one older female client who came in with an obvious lack of knowledge of the tax filing process, but an obvious dislike/distrust of it. I walked her through the details and she ended up with a refund of over $3K. She cried and told me she loved me. She was going to use the refund to buy her first car."
~EITC VOLUNTEER

DOWNLOAD EITC Report 2005(PDF*)

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