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It's EITC Awareness Day!
For working families living paycheck-to-paycheck, their tax refund means they can finally pay down some debt, put something away for savings—or just have a little financial breathing room.
National EITC Awareness Day happens each year on January 29th to help prove the importance of the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits that help working families, including Native American families, get ahead. On our final day of the National Week of Action, we're using EITC Awareness Day to demonstrate why access to tax credits for working families is essential to building assets and achieving financial security.
VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) programs connect taxpayers to valuable tax credits, like the EITC, and they serve as the gateway to other services that low-income taxpayers need. VITA programs also divert Native families from utilizing high-cost refund services, enabling them to keep more money in their pockets.
We're working to raise awareness of the EITC to ensure eligible taxpayers are aware of the credit—and of the free, high-quality tax preparation services available at VITA sites in Native communities.
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Accesses EITC
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Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Housing & Community Development Corporation helped hundreds of Native families increase financial skills, build assets, and access tax credits.
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In 2015, the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Housing & Community Development Corporation trained 174 community members through their Financial Assets & Training Program. As a result, community members improved their skills in the topic areas of budgeting, banking, credit, insurance, home buying, home ownership, and accounting. In addition, KBOHCDC provided tax preparation through their VITA program, which saved low-income working families thousands of dollars in tax preparation fees while maximizing their returns through the use of the EITC. KBOHCDC is gearing up its VITA program to serve even more clients in 2016.
As part of the National Week of Action, we’re calling on Congress to continue supporting this critical program for working families!
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Three Simple Ways to Participate in the National Week of Action
We will be working around the clock this week to capture the attention of the media, policymakers, and funders to share challenges and successful strategies for increasing financial capability and asset-building in Native communities. We are pleased to be partners in the National Week of Action, and encourage you to participate as well. Here are three simple ways to engage:
- Forward and share our daily emails during this weeklong campaign.
- Share and re-tweet our social media posts on Facebook and Twitter and use these hashtags: #AOActionWeek, #nativeassets, and #nativecdfis.
- Visit the National Week of Action webpage to learn more about the role you can play in building strong credit in Native communities.
As a unified group, we can maximize our impact. Get involved to support financial inclusion and economic opportunity for Native American families!
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