RADFORD – New River Community Action (NRCA) has been awarded $30,000 to provide free income tax preparation services to individuals and families living in the New River Valley.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) at NRCA offers free tax preparation services to any household making less than $70,000 a year. The Virginia Community Action Partnership (VACAP) has announced that $485,725 has been awarded to 19 coalitions across Virginia to provide free income tax preparation services under the Internal Revenue Service Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The VACAP program, called the Virginia CASH Campaign, provides opportunities for taxpayers to file both federal and state tax returns, claim valuable tax credits like the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) and both the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and link taxpayers with financial empowerment opportunities.
“We are very appreciative of Virginia’s Governor and General Assembly for funding this important work,” said Carolyn Spohrer, Vice President at VACAP. “Coalitions have been providing VITA services, in some cases, for over 20 years, including during the pandemic.”
Last tax filing season, over 19,700 returns were filed, bringing in over $20 million in refunds to communities across Virginia.
“Community volunteers, trained and certified by the IRS, have been the backbone of the program,” said Erik Johnston, VACAP President and CEO. “The value of our VITA volunteers translates to over a $10 million contribution to the program.”
“On behalf of our staff and volunteers working with the VITA program, we are pleased to accept this $30,000 grant award, “said Stephanie Bryson, Chief Operating Officer at New River Community Action. “Being one of 19 grantees from across the Commonwealth enables us to impact the lives of individuals and families as we continue our VITA work as we have for over 25 tax filing seasons.”
New River Community Action will start assisting customers with federal and state tax filing on Feb. 5, 2025. For more information, please contact Molly Moulder, NRCA VITA Program Coordinator at mmoulder@nrcaa.org or by calling 540-980-5525.
New River Community Action