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BOSTON - Tuesday, January 31, 2023 - Mayor
Michelle Wu today announced that the Boston Tax
Help Coalition (BTHC) will again offer free tax preparation services to Boston
residents earning $60,000 or less a year. The BTHC and its community
partners are providing tax services remotely and in-person at over 30
neighborhood tax sites. Residents can file safely while maximizing their
refunds and credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the
Child Tax Credit. Tax preparation assistance is available in English,
Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, Portuguese, French,
Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Cantonese. The schedule can be found by
visiting bostontaxhelp.org or calling 3-1-1.
"Boston residents can save hundreds of
dollars per household through the Boston Tax Help Coalition’s free tax
preparation,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “These free, multilingual
tax assistance services are available across thirty locations and remotely
serve as a valuable resource that supports thousands of Boston residents in
maximizing their refunds safely. I encourage every qualified Boston
resident to take advantage of this model program.”
Part of the Center for Working Families, a
department in the Worker Empowerment Cabinet, the Boston Tax Help Coalition
has served approximately 193,000 households and returned over $348 million
dollars in tax credits and refunds since its creation. The program allows
residents to keep more of their earned income and maximizes the impact of
their tax credits by eliminating tax preparation fees. Tax preparers assess
filers’ eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a credit for
low- and middle-income workers, and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Both
credits greatly reduce poverty for working families by providing a
financial boost. As of December 2022, 31 million eligible workers and
families have received an estimated $64 billion in EITC with an average
return of $2,043 nationwide.
"All qualified Bostonians should take
advantage of the Boston Tax Help Coalition's free tax preparation in order
to maximize their refund and receive the tax credits due to them,"
said Trinh Nguyen, Chief of Worker Empowerment. "The
Coalition's partners and volunteers are IRS-trained and are providing a
valuable service to our residents at locations conveniently located in
Boston neighborhoods. Congratulations to the Coalition as it enters its
22nd year!"
“Often, receiving a tax refund is people's
first step toward household budgeting and building family wealth,”
said Urban Edge CEO Emilio Dorcely. “As part of the Boston Tax
Help Coalition, Urban Edge has been a trusted and reliable place where
hundreds of families in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain can go for free tax
preparation and filing services each year. We applaud the City of Boston
and Mayor Wu for their citywide efforts in providing this vital service to
Boston residents.”
“ABCD is proud to be a longstanding partner
of the Boston Tax Help Coalition and kicking off a new tax year with the
Mayor and others once again,” said ABCD President and CEO Sharon
Scott-Chandler. “Free tax preparation services fight poverty by
channeling money directly back into the hands of residents and under
resourced communities. People have an opportunity, they don’t often have,
to take a lump sum of their hard earned cash and pay off debts or save
toward things like buying a house or furthering education. With
extraordinarily high food and energy prices today, they are also able to
help meet immediate needs like rent and transportation.”
The Boston Tax Help Coalition continues to
serve the Disability community through a partnership with Deaf, Inc. and
this year is adding a Visually Impaired People (VIP) tax preparation pilot.
On Wednesdays in February, the VIP program will provide accommodations to
visually impaired residents receiving tax preparation services at the
Center for Working Families in Nubian Square. More information can be found
at boston.gov/vip-pilot.
“The City of Boston prioritizes equity in
all of its programs and services, and access for people with disabilities
is a key piece of that,” said Boston Disability Commissioner
Kristen McCosh. “The Blind/Low Vision pilot program is building on
the work we’ve done to ensure that tax prep services are accessible and
inclusive of all Boston residents.”
In addition to tax preparation, the Boston
Tax Help Coalition connects residents to other free financial services to
improve their financial health. Of note, Bank On Boston helps residents identify banking
services that are safe, affordable, and non-predatory and the Financial
Check-Up provides residents with a one-on-one session with trained
Financial Guides who review their credit score and provide personalized
credit-building strategies. Boston Saves, the City of Boston’s children’s savings
account program, is offering eligible BPS families a $25 incentive into
their child's account for getting free tax preparation and a Financial
Check-Up through BTHC. More information on the Boston Tax Help Coalition’s
free tax services can be found at bostontaxhelp.org.
ABOUT WORKER EMPOWERMENT
The Worker Empowerment Cabinet (WE) leads
the City’s work in advancing the well-being of all working Bostonians in
both the public and private sectors by linking worker empowerment policy
and programs to create a safe, healthy, and climate resilient city for
all.
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