State
Agencies Offer llinois Families Extra Help Again This Tax Season
Send a link to a friend
[March 15, 2011]
CHICAGO – March
8, 2011. The Illinois Departments of Revenue (IDOR), Human Services
(IDHS) and Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) urge
Illinois families to take advantage of tax preparation assistance
and easy filing options available at www.tax.illinois.gov. By filing
their state taxes electronically, families can get their entire
refund quickly and for free, avoiding high-interest refund
anticipation loans offered by many commercial tax preparation
companies. Low and moderate-income families can take advantage of
several tax assistance services offered in conjunction with the
State of Illinois.
|
“This year, more working families are likely to
benefit from federal and state earned income tax credits, and we
want to make sure they know about these opportunities,” said IDHS
Secretary Michelle R.B. Saddler. “For many low and moderate-income
households, these benefits are critical to rising out of poverty and
making the transition from dependency to lasting self-sufficiency.
We’re also urging people who participated in the Put Illinois to
Work program to take advantage of these important benefits.”
Through a partnership between IDHS and the
non-profit Center for Economic Progress’ Tax Counseling Project,
many working families uncomfortable preparing their returns
themselves can receive free tax preparation assistance at tax
assistance centers across the state. Since the beginning of this
year’s tax season, over 17,000 people have already filed returns
worth over $39.5 million in tax returns.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2010/Dec/22/images/ads/current/vonderleith_bch120310.png)
IDHS is also reaching out to the people it
serves and those who have left DHS programs for jobs, encouraging
these individuals to take advantage of the federal Earned Income Tax
Credit (EITC) as well as free tax counseling provided by the Tax
Counseling Project and the Tax Assistance Program (TAP), funded, in
part by IDHS.
“Every tax season we see people urged to
purchase expensive tax software or visit one of the tax preparation
firms to file their taxes. And many people take out high-interest
refund anticipation loans to get their money more quickly, said
Director Brian Hamer, Illinois Department of Revenue. “Filing online
is free, and refunds can be quickly deposited directly into a
family’s bank account, often within a matter of days.”
The Tax Counseling Project trains volunteers to
provide free tax services to families and individuals at nine
locations in Chicago and 17 other sites throughout Illinois. The
services are provided free of charge to families with incomes less
than $50,000 and to individuals with incomes under $25,000. Most
sites will open on January 22 and provide services through April
18.
DHS also funds the Tax Assistance Program which
has 23 locations in Chicago and the suburbs. TAP recruits tax
professionals to volunteer to assist low-income families.
[to top of second
column] |
![](../images/ads/current/friendshipmanor_lda101210.png)
Last year, the Center for Economic Progress’ Tax Counseling Project
and the Tax Assistance Program helped people file nearly 40,000
returns worth approximately $70.6 million in tax returns. In the
2009 tax year that ended last December, more than 935,000 families
received more than $105 million in EIC benefits.
For more information on the Tax Counseling
Project, contact the Center for Economic Progress in Chicago at
312-630-0273, or call the toll free statewide number at
888-827-8511. For information on the Tax Assistance Program call
312-409-1555 or 312-409-4318 (Spanish). Details are also available
on the IDHS website at www.dhs.state.il.us and the Department of
Revenue website at
www.revenue.state.il.us.
Information about filing federal taxes on-line
can be found at www.irs.gov.
[TEXT FROM STATE OF ILLINOIS]
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2010/Nov/04/images/ads/current/hearing_aid_center_sda102210.png)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2011/Feb/15/images/ads/current/castlemanor_sda021111.png) |