Many Riverview residents are among the total number of 2008 income tax filers, who saved more than a half-million dollars, by doing their taxes with the assistance of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, sponsored by the South Central Kingsport Weed and Seed program.
Weed and Seed coordinatator Mary Alexander says, $515,336 dollars was returned to tax filers at VITA's two processing centers, the Fresh Start Foundation on Lincoln/ML King and the Kingsport Public Library. Folks who qualified for the Earned Income Credit (EIC) accounted for $169,314 dollars.
The VITA program was provided through a grant from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Eastman Chemical Corporation, TriSummitt Bank and the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority. VITA is a free tax return service for low-income and elderly residents in Kingsport.
"We'll try to get another VITA grant for the 2009 tax filing season next year," says Mrs. Alexander. "The program has been extremely popular, and we are also looking for volunteers to help us next year. The volunteers will be trained by IRS staff members to get residents the best refund possible."
If you are interested, please contact Mary Alexander, South Central Weed and Seed Coordinator at (423) 392-2578 or Jack VandeVate, VITA Coordinator at (423) 245-3642.
