If you have not filed your taxes yet, you may be able to get them done for free through a Butler County program.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program – also known as VITA – is back again this year. Trained volunteers can prepare your taxes for free if you make under $50,000 a year.
The program is run through the Center for Community Resources. To make a VITA appointment, you should call the Center for Community Resources in Butler at 724-431-3767. In past years, you were instructed to call 211 but that has changed.
There are several locations that provide the tax prep service through CCR, including in Cranberry, Slippery Rock, Kittanning and two locations in Butler.
“The target audience for us is the people who can get the Earned Income Tax Credit and/or the Child Tax Credit that can’t afford to go to a paid preparer,” CCR’s Jean Bowen said. “Some of the preparer’s are charging between $300-$400. The idea is to put the money back in peoples’ pockets so they can make ends meet.”
Bowen also notes the entire program is two-fold because not only does it get money back to Butler’s residents, but it brings money back to the community. In 2017, the program brought back over $3 million in refunds and credits.
“That’s helping the community,” she said. “They’re spending that money here.”
