Congresswoman Barbara Lee Joins the United Way to Promote Free Tax Preparation Resources
Embargoed Until: March 27, 2013, 9:30 am PST
Contact: Katherine Jolly (510) 763-0370
Oakland, CA – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) joined Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, California Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-18) and representatives from the Internal Revenue Service and United Way of the Bay Area at a press conference to encourage East Bay residents to take advantage of free tax preparation resources available through Earn It! Keep It! Save It! (EKS). The press conference was held at the Self Help Federal Credit Union in West Oakland.
“Earn it! Keep It! Save It! brings needed resources to the community by helping working families receive all of the tax credits they earned, said Congresswoman Barbara Lee. “As our economy continues to recover, we need to support low-wage workers and their families, by providing tools that empower them to move forward and achieve long term financial security—doing so is critical to eliminating poverty.”
EKS offers low- to moderate-income individuals and families free tax preparation by an IRS-certified volunteer. Each tax preparer ensures that their client receives the maximum benefit and refund possible. Earn It! Keep It! Save It! is projected to serve more than 65,000 clients in the Bay Area at 215 tax sites, bringing back at least $65 million dollars in refunds to the community.
Earn It! Keep It! Save It! (EKS) is a coalition of Bay Area organizations that provides free tax preparation to households earning less than $51,000 a year. Across the Bay Area at more than 215 free tax sites, IRS-trained volunteer tax preparers help individuals and families claim their maximum benefit and refund. Through EKS, United Way partners with hundreds of community organizations and other free tax preparation providers such as Tax-Aid and AARP Tax-Aide to process 64,000 tax returns each year. Low- to moderate-income households receive free, quality tax return preparation and in many cases, access to asset building or income support resources such as public benefits, low or no cost bank accounts or financial education. EKS tax preparers also ensure that eligible taxpayers claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which can amount to as much as $5,891 per family.
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Congresswoman Lee is a member of the House Appropriations and Budget Committees the Steering and Policy Committee, is the chair of the Democratic Whip’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity, is a Senior Democratic Whip as well as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus(CPC), where she serves as the Co-Chair of the CPC Peace and Security Task Force, as well as founder and Co-Chair of the Out of Poverty Caucus.