Heritage United Way, in cooperation with Southern NH Services and the local Internal Revenue
Service (IRS), recently announced the results and celebrated the successes of the first year
of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at the Southern NH Services (SNHS)
Workplace Success location. This year’s program at SNHS was a resounding success with over
$440,000 dollars in income tax refunds to working families and individuals in Manchester.
According to Cathleen Fitzgerald of the Manchester IRS Office, “This is the most successful
first-year electronic free tax preparation site in NH history.”

VITA Programs help families and individuals with low-to-moderate incomes. Trained Volunteer
Tax Assistors explain the many special credits and deductions and how to claim them on their
tax returns. Volunteers also help individuals complete and electronically file their returns–
all for free. This year, 249 tax returns were completed and filed by 25 volunteers
at the Southern NH Services VITA site located on Rogers Street in Manchester. 

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) was created to reduce the tax burden on lower-income
workers and to supplement their wages. The credit can increase an eligible family’s wages
by as much as 20 percent. Of the $440,000 refunded to Manchester residents, the Southern
NH Services VITA site helped local families claim over $147,000 in EITC money.

The EITC is the nation’s largest and most powerful anti-poverty program; larger than the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Food Stamp Programs combined. Enacted
by Congress in 1975 and significantly expanded in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the EITC
has helped tens of millions of Americans make the transition from public assistance to
economic independence. Each year, the EITC raises the incomes of almost five million people
above the poverty line, half of whom are children; yet four million EITC-eligible families
annually fail to file for the credit.