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//RESOURCES/TAX |
Saturday
5/10/2008 6:17:44 PM |
Strengthening Native Families: Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
Every year, millions of EITC dollars go unclaimed in Native communities with working families missing out on refunds equal to $390 to $4,300 in the 2004 tax year. First Nations Development Institute, with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, has developed a workbook to help Native people claim and benefit from EITC refunds. To download this document, click here.
Consider these astounding figures from 2002:
- Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska brought $4 million into their community with EITC but there was almost $1 million unclaimed.
- The Osage Tribe claimed almost $8.5 million with over $2 million unclaimed.
- The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington state claimed more than $28 million but missed out on potential claims of more than $7 million.
- The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe claimed more than $16 million EITC dollars but left almost $4 million unclaimed.
- Navajo Nation citizens claimed more than $36 million but left more than $9 million unclaimed.
And that’s just a few of the many Native communities across the United States.
What can you do to help?
- Launch an EITC Outreach Campaign
Make sure you inform eligible families who are not currently claiming the EITC! Order copies of a new EITC consumer guide from First Nations by calling 540-371-5615 or emailing info@firstnations.org. Download free resources at www.oweesta.org/eitc including ads, flyers and W-2 mailing stuffers for a local outreach campaign to promote EITC in your community. Click here for a copy of the tribal leader’s guide to launching an EITC
campaign.
- Publicize Free Tax Preparation Sites
Help consumers find free tax preparation sites to maximize their refund value. Obtain Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) locations near your community by calling 1-800-829-1040.
- Promote Financial Education
Recruit financial education providers in your community to conduct workshops to teach families in your community how to use their EITC refunds to achieve their goals to get out of debt, save for a home or start a new small business. Resources are available at www.firstnations.org or by calling 540-371-5615. You can also contact the Native Financial Education Coalition through Steve Shepelwich Steven.Shepelwich@kc.frb.org and/or Karen Edwards karene@wustl.edu.
For more information about the EITC in your community, visit the Oweesta website at www.oweesta.org/eitc.
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We believe, that when armed with appropriate resources, Native peoples hold the capacity and ingenuity to ensure the sustainable economic, spiritual, and cultural well being of their communities.
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