The EITC, in place since 1975, continues to play an important role in providing critical financial resources to hard-working low-income families across the U.S. In 2013, working families filing for the EITC (for the 2012 tax year) will be able to receive up to $5,891, a significant boost for families who are trying not only to get by but get ahead.
We know that when rural families do better, so do rural communities! Not only does the EITC help reduce family poverty, it encourages work and boosts local economic activity. Therefore, community leaders have every reason to launch or expand local EITC and free tax assistance efforts – especially when, according to national estimates, 20 to 25 percent of eligible workers do not claim their well-earned EITC benefits!
Here are resources to help you organize or expand EITC programs in your community:
Video recordings of Ready… Set… Tax Prep!, a RuFES ReFresher webinar broadcast on November 8, 2012, can be found here.
- Session I Part I : Introduction
- Session I Part II: EITC & CTC Program Basics
- Session I Part III: EITC Updates
- Session II Part I: Introduction
- Session II Part II: Stories From the Field
Download the presentation slides from the Ready… Set… Tax Prep! webinar.
- Session 1, Essential Ingredients for Successful EITC Campaigns, provides an overview of the EITC and CTC, a summary of updates and changes for the upcoming tax season, and resources to strengthen your program.
- Session 2, Stories From the Field: Exemplary Rural EITC Programs, includes examples of creative rural tax prep programs. Learn more about how organizations in Kentucky and Michigan are conducting free tax prep through mobile sites, employer-based sites, and virtual sites.
- This RuFES ReFresher Webinar 2012 – EITC Resources, a follow-up to Ready… Set… Tax Prep!, provides descriptions and links for a number of organizations that offer EITC resources.
Rural Family Economic Success Action Network 