United Way of King County has extended its free tax services to nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve.

For more than 20 years we have filed thousands of returns for individuals and families. Funded by United Way, the IRS, and the City of Seattle, the Free Tax Preparation Campaign runs from January through April and helps people who make $80,000 or less annually take advantage of earned income tax credits, the nation’s most vital anti-poverty measure.

Now we offer two services for organizations, particularly those who serve communities that might have challenges accessing our nearly two dozen Free Tax Campaign locations or our virtual site.

United Way is offering one-day tax preparation events at local organizations, giving their staff, their volunteers, and the people they serve a chance to get their taxes done on-site. Our one-day tax preparation events are held up to eight hours a day for a minimum of 10 clients.

“Often what happens is that an organization will contact us and say, ‘Hey can you do a one-day tax event?’” said Casey Lantz, United Way outreach and relationship coordinator for tax credits and financial stability. She added that organizations who have taken advantage of this service include the Renton Senior Activity Center and the Hearing Speech & Deaf Center in Seattle. This year, our one-day tax preparation services run from February-March and availability is limited.

United Way is also offering tax basics workshops for those who might not be familiar with tax laws. Workshop presentations include topics such as how tax credits work, the difference between W-2 employment and 1099 contract filing, and how to file as self-employed. Organizations that have used the service include Consejo Counseling and Referral Service and World Relief Western Washington.

“We customize those based on the needs of the organization,” said Lantz. “For one organization we will do one specifically for people in domestic violence situations. It will be about what to do if you’ve never done your taxes before; some women are escaping situations where their partners have done all the taxes and controlled the finances. We also do workshops for refugees who are new to the U.S. and who are from countries that have different tax laws.”

Tax basics workshops run year-round, both on-site and virtually, Lantz said, but they tend to be most popular during tax season.

“We want people to know that the Free Tax Campaign isn’t just preparing taxes with our site hosts, that we offer additional services,” said Lantz.

For more information about the tax basics workshops or the one-day tax services, send an email to freetax@uwkc.org. For more information about our Free Tax Preparation Campaign, click here.