COMMUNITY STORIES

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program through United Way of Tucson provides free, quality tax preparation by IRS-certified preparers for individuals and families earning up to $66,000 annually. In 2020, we had to reimagine how to best get our services out into the community during a pandemic. VITA was able to partner with GetYourRefund.org to replicate the VITA experience virtually, ensuring the safety of all taxpayers and program volunteers. The online system allowed us to reach more people and process returns more efficiently. This past year, we were able to file 14,180 tax returns for low-income working families, resulting in $26 million dollars in federal refunds returned to the community.