The EITC Program Helps Make Dreams Come True

February 18, 2015

Qualified members are urged to apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit



eitc_fa.jpgDevery Reid-Holmes, a patient care tech at Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital, used her tax refund last year for a down payment on her new home. Her federal and state refunds totaled more than $10,000 thanks to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) a program for low-and-moderateincome workers.



“I have gotten so much from my Union,” Reid-Holmes stresses. “I would not have known about the EITC were it not for the Union.”



When Reid-Holmes began at Strong about 12 years ago, she regularly paid hundreds of dollars to have her taxes prepared by H&R Block. “About five or six years ago I found out that the Union would help me and not charge a penny,” she says. Through 1199SEIU she also learned about the EITC.



“On Oct. 14, last year, which was my grandmother’s birthday, I closed on the house that I share with my daughter, Imani, 12, and son, Daniel, 3,” Reid-Holmes proudly declares. For her, it was a dream come true.



Stories like Reid-Holmes’s abound throughout 1199SEIU. Last year, EITC programs run by 1199SEIU and the 1199SEIU Funds helped lowwage workers receive more than $15 million in refunds.



The 1199SEIU Benefit Fund partners with organizations in New York City, Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey to assist members and residents in those regions.



1199SEIU does the same in the Union’s New York upstate regions— Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, the North Country—in addition to Massachusetts and Maryland/D.C.



When the program began just over a decade ago, 1199SEIU members received a total of $61,000 in refunds. Last year, the Syracuse region alone netted over $3 million in for low-wage workers. A number of 1199ers received refunds in the five digits, with one member getting a total refund of over $14,000.



So successful was the Syracuse effort that the Internal Revenue Service is studying the operation there to draw lessons to be used elsewhere.



The EITC, designed to encourage and reward work, is one of the nation’s most successful anti-poverty initiatives. Research indicates that families mostly use it to pay for necessities, repair homes, maintain vehicles that are needed to commute to work, and to obtain education or training to boost their employability and earning power.



But advocates fear that the current Republican-controlled Congress might attempt to weaken the EITC. Some conservative elected officials have argued that the nation cannot afford both the EITC and a rise in the minimum wage.



Meanwhile, inequality continues to widen. A study this year by Oxfam, the international antipoverty organization, found that the world’s 80 richest people have the same wealth as the poorest 50% (3.5 billion people). Oxfam warned also that if the current trend continues, by 2016, 1% of the world’s population will own more wealth than the other 99%.



Devery Reid-Holmes is proof that the country can’t afford not to support programs like the EITC. “I tell people, to take advantage of all our Union programs,” says Reid-Holmes. “I’ve used the education funds to finish my LPN training and I’m going on to become an RN. “Getting the EITC refund made a huge difference for me and my family.”



1199ers are strongly encouraged to apply for the EITC.



You are eligible for the EITC if you meet the following requirements:



• If your income was below $46,997, or $52,247 if married and filing jointly, with three or more dependent children



• If your income was below $43,756, or $49,186 if filing jointly, with two dependent children



• If your income was below $38,511, or $43,941 if married and filing jointly with one dependent child



• If your income was below $14,590, or $20,020 if married and filing jointly, with no dependent children.



EITC Sites and Numbers to Call

Buffalo, NY

2421 Main Street, Suite 100

For appointment, call 716.982.0540

Carla at Ext. 3721.



North Country (Gouverneur), NY

95 East Main St., Gouverneur

For appointment, call 315.287.9013, Ext. 11.



Rochester, NY

259 Monroe Ave, Suite 220

For appointment, call 585.730.6433.



Syracuse, NY

1199SEIU / SEOC Free Tax Center

100 New Street

For appointment, call 315.295.1822.



Baltimore, MD

611 North Eutaw Street

For appointment, call 443.449.2019 or 443-449-2099.



MASSACHUSETTS SITES:

Dorchester – 150 Mt. Vernon St,

3rd Fl.

Springfield – 20 Maple St.

Hyannis – 89 Lewis Bay Road

For appointment, call 877.409.1199.



New York City and New Jersey

The 1199SEIU Benefit Funds has partnered with VITA sites administered by Food Bank for New York City and Ariva. For information, call 311 or the VITA Site Locator Hotline at 800.906.9887 or log onto www.FoodBankNYC.org/News/Free- Income-Tax-Services-Location.



LONG ISLAND MEMBERS can call 516.349.4288 or 800.906.9887 or visit website of partner organization, the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, www.HCWLI.com.



WESTCHESTER MEMBERS can call 800.906.9887 or log onto partner website, Westchester-Putnam One Stop, www.WestchesterPutnamOneStop.com.



NEW JERSEY MEMBERS can call 211or 800.906.9887. They also can visit www. IRS.gov/Individuals/Find-a-Location-for- Free-Tax-Prep.



MEMBERS IN NEW YORK CITY, WESTCHESTER, LONG ISLAND AND NEW JERSEY also can call the AARP Foundation-Tax-Aide at 888-687-2277 or log onto www.AARP.org.



The 1199SEIU Funds also provide EITC services in its Manhattan offices for Homecare members. Members must call 646.473.6920 to make an appointment.



For More EITC Info