CAHS (Connecticut Association for Human Services) coordinates an annual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Campaign across Fairfield, New Haven, New London, Middlesex, and Litchfield Counties.
VITA stands for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. CAHS manages over 60+ VITA sites in the Derby, Waterbury, Naugatuck, Danbury, Bridgeport, Stratford, Thomaston, Stamford, Norwalk, Winsted, New Haven, Hamden, Middlesex, and New London areas. VITA provides free tax preparation services to low-to-moderate-income individuals and families earning less than $56,000 a year. IRS-trained volunteers are certified to prepare simple tax returns, and screen customers for special tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Retirement Savings Contribution Credit (Saver's Credit), that can help them to make ends meet. Visiting a VITA site instead of a paid tax preparer saves each filer an average of $300 and taxes can be filed electronically.
This past tax season, the Fairfield County Coalition operated 25 VITA sites and assisted 9, 887 tax fliers. This resulted in a savings of over 2 million dollars in tax preparation fees, over 12 million dollars in tax refunds and 3.6 million in Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
