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Free Tax Help Available In Athens Through The Hancock Community Development Corporation

by Andre Gallant
02/13/2008

Free income tax preparation services are available at a community center in the Hancock Corridor.

The Hancock Community Development Corporation, located at 300 Henderson Extension, offers the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or VITA, to anyone who makes less than $39,000.

Clothilda Barnett, a coordinator at the corporation, said prospective filers need only bring a Georgia I.D., a social security card or last year’s tax return, this year’s W2’s and any itemized deductions or statements of interest earned.

The free tax service is available Mondays from 4 p.m. until 7p.m. and Saturdays from noon until 4p.m. up to the April 15th tax deadline.

Volunteer tax preparers, which include students from the University of Georgia and local residents, are coached in the Tax Wise e-filing software at bi-annual trainings given by the Internal Revenue Service.

Nicole Gibson, one of the many volunteers in the program, worked at a commercial tax preparation company for seven years before choosing to volunteer for the VITA program.

She knew that some of her clients couldn’t afford her services and hated being unable to tell them about free and cheap alternatives due to loyalty to her employers.

“I wanted to tell them to go here or there and not have to pay,” she said.

Now in its third year, the program’s first few sessions are twice as packed as last year, Barnett said.

That’s mostly due to positive word of mouth, she said.

“Many people never filed before because they were afraid to file,” Barnett said. “But they feel comfortable to come here.”

Ernesto Palacin turned in his two-weeks notice to a warehouse job in Lawrenceville when his car died recently. Palacin said that between not having to pay to file his taxes and the refund he’ll be receiving this year, he should have the means to pay the bills until he finds new employment in Athens.

Many people are confused about how to file their taxes, Barnett said, and having a hand in wading through the paperwork can be very helpful.

The corporation offers the service in an effort to assist neighborhood residents and to help bring money back into the community.

The program is a partnership between the HCDC and many other organizations, mainly the Athens-Clarke County Police Department’s Operation Weed and Seed.

Created with a grant from the Department of Justice, the police program seeks to “weed out crime in a designated community and seed in programs that assist the community,” Weed and Seed site coordinator Lt. Terrie Patterson said.

“It’s not a good strategy just to lock people up,” she said.

“A lot of people come in and want to purchase a home and their finances are not in order, the debt income ratio is out of whack,” Barnett said. “We teach them how to save money... which is not something you do overnight.”

Having a properly filed tax return is the first step to gaining a stronger financial footing, Patterson said.

Patterson and Barnett consider the Earned Income Tax Credit to be an integral part of their program’s mission.

The EITC is available to tax filers who haven’t made enough money to pay in any taxes but are eligible for a refund. It’s one of the largest federally funded programs to help pull people out of poverty, Patterson said.

The VITA program also partners with local credit unions that help filers open bank accounts in which their returns can be directly deposited.

Overall, the program is about helping people, Patterson said.

The program is available to all residents of Clarke County as well as the surrounding area, Barnett said. Also, a box of groceries is available to anyone who completes their taxes with the program.

“That’s a lot of good seed,” Barnett said.