OSHKOSH AREA VITA 2014 YEAR END REPORT

Transcription

1 OSHKOSH AREA VITA 2014 YEAR END REPORT Volunteer Income Tax Assistance The VITA Program provides free tax preparation services to low to moderate-income residents of Winnebago County

2 SITE COORDINATORS Peter Westort University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 835 High Avenue Oshkosh, WI Sue Panek Oshkosh Area United 36 Broad Street Oshkosh, WI Tax Report Prepared by: Emily Conlee VITA Project Management Intern University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Data results and analyses were based on either filing data or survey results. This survey was offered to every individual receiving VITA s free tax service in which 96 people agreed to fill out various demographic and personal information.

3 Oshkosh Area VITA Tax Year 2014 (Services provided during 2015 calendar year) VITA hosted a total of eight tax preparation events for the 2014 tax year. With 30 appointments available per event, a total of 240 appointments were scheduled for this year. During the 3rd event of the season, the TaxWise software program used to file taxes went down due to unscheduled maintenance. All 30 appointments for that event had to be rescheduled. These appointments have been counted in the listing below: Some taxpayers were unable to be served due to the following reasons: Cancelled &/or Rescheduled: 59 No Show: 17 Out of scope: 3 Refugee (could not file): 1 TOTAL: E-filed Federal Returns 31 Paper Federal Returns 22 FSA Federal Returns 13 Federal Returns rejected TOTAL FEDERAL RETURNS: E-filed State Returns 1 Paper State Return TOTAL STATE RETURNS: % of taxpayers received their refund via direct deposit Total refunds processed: Federal Refunds: $194,241 State Refunds: $95,382 TOTAL: $289,623 OSHKOSH AREA VITA IMPACT According to the National Society of Accountants (nsacct.org), the average cost to have a professional file your taxes has gone up 4.6% from For 2014, someone could expect to pay an average of $159 in tax preparation fees to prepare a Form 1040 and state return without itemized deductions Average tax preparation cost through for-profit services: $ Average tax preparation cost through VITA services: $0.00 Total Average savings to VITA taxpayer clients: $26,076.00

4 *Averages for the following found from only those receiving applicable credit Earned Income Tax Credit The earned income tax credit (EITC) is a refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families. Number: 61 Total: $92,414 Average: $1,515 Child Tax Credit Child tax credit is for people who have a qualifying child, as defined by the IRS It is an addition to the child for child and child dependent care expenses and the EITC. Number: 21 Total: $33,598 Average: $1, Educational Credit There are two tax credits available to offset the costs of higher education. These credits can be subtracted in full from the federal income tax. These credits are the American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit. Number: 8 Total: $12,454 Average: $1, On a National scale, VITA was incredibly successful thanks to the hard work of the many dedicated site coordinators and IRS certified volunteers. For this tax year, more people than ever before discovered that they were victims of identity theft, and the VITA team was exceedingly helpful in educating taxpayers on how to deal with this and how to defend themselves in the future. Statistics for State and National VITA contributions are shown below: National: Over 3 million tax payers served-3.37 million tax returns e-filed nationally 95.64% accuracy for the 2014 tax year Wisconsin: Over 65,300 Federal Returns were e-filed 75,000 State Returns were e-filed 2,886 Federal Returns were filed through MyFreeTaxes online site NATIONAL IMPACT

5 DEMOGRAPHIC SERVED The VITA program is dedicated to serving all qualified individuals within the community. For the 2014 tax year, VITA provided its services to a variety of individuals from different ages, ethnicities, and educational backgrounds. The majority of the individuals served were: white, lived in either a rented home or an apartment and completed high school or received a GED. 58% of the participants were between the ages of while 42% were ages 56 years or older. RACE/ETHNICITY: White: 89% Hispanic/Latino: 2% Black/African American: 3% Asian: 2% Native American: 1% Arabic: 1% *based on filing data 5

6 RESIDENCE OF TAXPAYERS The Oshkosh Area VITA served 164 residents within Winnebago County. VITA had the biggest impact on the city of Oshkosh, serving 146 taxpayers in this area. However, VITA served taxpayers from eight other cities within the county. RESIDENCE OF TAXPAYERS: Oshkosh: 89% Omro: 3% Ripon: 3% Appleton: 1% Greenlake: 1% Neenah: 1% Shawano: 1% Winneconne: 1% *based on filing data Based on 2014 HUD Income Limits for Winnebago County: 65% of taxpayers were Extremely Low Income 17% of taxpayers were considered Low Income 14% of taxpayers were considered Very Low Income. Only 4% of taxpayers were considered to be above a low income level. *based on filing data WINNEBAGO COUNTY: HUD INCOME LIMITS INCOME LIMITS Median Income: $68,800 Extremely Low: 30% of Median ($23,850) Very Low: 50% of Median ($34,150) Low: 80 % of Median ($54,650) * 6

7 FILING STATUS Out of all taxpayers served, 113 filed as a single, 32 were filed as married filing jointly, and 19 filed as head of household. *based on filing data SAVING/BANKING HABITS Survey Q&A regarding savings/banking habits from are as follows: Currently, do you find it difficult to pay any of your loans or debts? YES: 34 NO:43 Currently, do you have a checking account? YES: 65 NO:16 Currently do you have a savings account? YES: 52 NO: 31 Currently, do you have a credit card? YES: 39 NO: 43 Currently, do you have a CD or investment account? YES:12 NO: 65 Only 7 participants expressed interest in learning more about personal finance and money management

8 REFUND PLANS Survey participants were asked to indicate how they planned to spend their refund money. Of the 77 participants that responded to this question, 42 respondents indicated that they would use their refund to catch up on bills, 11 respondents indicated that they would use their refund to buy something for themselves or their family, 25 respondents indicated that they would use their refund to pay off debt, 22 respondents indicated that they would put their refund toward their savings, and 12 respondents indicated that they would use their refund for other purposes. NEW/RETURNING TAXPAYERS The majority of individuals served are returning VITA participants. Based on survey results, of the 91 respondents to the question of whether they had previously been served by VITA, 60 respondents indicated that they were returning clients, and 31 respondents indicated that they were new clients. Marketing efforts for this year included bus sign advertising as well as informing the community through the United Way website, local media sources and social media.

9 MyFreeTaxes MyFreeTaxes online (myfreetaxes.com) is a great resource for people to file their state and federal tax returns online for free. MyFreeTaxes teamed up with H&R Block and United Way Worldwide to provide this service in all 50 states to anyone with an annual income of $60,000 or less. Anyone taking advantage of this resource is expected to complete their return independently, but because many people feel uncomfortable filing their taxes on their own, the VITA site offered to help anyone filing through MyFreeTaxes during the Saturday appointment times. Four people took advantage of this opportunity at the VITA site. This year, 80 people file their taxes online. This is an increase of 42 people over last year. 85% of those using the online service lived in & zip code areas. MyFreeTaxes Statistics: Number Served: 80 (68 with 54901/54902 Zip Codes) Average Refund: $1, Average EITC: $1, Total Refund Amount (based on average): $151,200 VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTIONS The Oshkosh Area VITA had a total of 29 volunteers that contributed to the initiative including: 5 schedulers, 5 screeners, 16 tax preparers and 3 tax prep/quality reviewers. A total of approximately 700 hours of tax prep volunteer services were contributed during the season. United Way office volunteers logged 416 phone hours and scheduled more than 1,730 appointments for the VITA and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs. These volunteers were comprised of University of WI -Oshkosh College of Business accounting students and faculty, as well as residents from the community. Tax prep volunteers completed the IRS s online Link & Learn training to become certified to assist taxpayers. They also dedicated time to attend a local training session at the University of WI - Oshkosh, and all volunteers completed the Code of Conduct training. As of April 2015, according to the Independent Sector website ( volunteer_time), a volunteer s time and effort is valued at $23.07/hour. Therefore the collective value of VITA volunteer contributions is $22,170.

10 PARTNER CONTRIBUTIONS A variety of partnering organizations contributed to this year s success.: United Way: Executive Director of OAUW, Sue Panek, served as this year s VITA site assistant administrator. She also provided leadership and acted as assistant site coordinator for the tax weekends. United Way also contributed in the following ways: Facilitated volunteer training Recruited volunteers for VITA weekends and supervised student intern Executed promotions to the community Loaned additional supplies and equipment for the site Scheduled all tax preparation appointments University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh: Faculty members, Dr. Peter Westort and Dr. Christopher Jones contributed their valuable tax expertise and acted as volunteer quality reviewers. Dr. Westort also acted as a site administrator IRS: The IRS provided VITA with any applicable tax updates throughout the season. They also assisted in volunteer training and acted as a valuable resource. Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh: The Boys & Girls Club provided VITA with an exceptional space to host this year s weekly tax prep Saturdays. They also were extremely hospitable to all volunteers.