For the City Times
Submitted by Emily Stieve, Community Impact Director

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Tax season is over and the statistics are in!  In south Wood and Adams Counties, our local MyFreeTaxes program experienced a total of 66 tax filers (with an average age of 39) who received an average refund amount of $1,669.48.

MyFreeTaxes is a safe, easy and completely free way for individuals or families earning $66,000 or less to file their state and federal taxes.  For the past nine years, United Way Worldwide has partnered with H&R Block to provide free tax filing services for federal and state taxes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since that time, the partnership has helped nearly a million people file their returns, bringing more than $1 billion in refunds back to local communities.

During the 2018 tax season, H&R Block released enhanced features which allowed most filers to complete their taxes in under one hour.  This included: the ability to upload an image of their W-2 form (allowing MyFreeTaxes to automatically fill in information); personalized chat time with an IRS Certified Specialist; and Refund Reveal^TM  which shows filers why and when their refund amount is changing in real time.

“MyFreeTaxes gave me confidence,” said James J. Malouf, Radio Personality from WFHR/WLJY Radio.  “With the simple detailed step-by-step process they offer I was able to do my own taxes for the first time! They give you independence from paying someone else to take care of your earnings. They make it easy to submit the necessary documents and to get the maximum allowable deductions. They gave me confidence in my return and confidence in myself to do this every year. Thank you to United Way Worldwide, H&R Block and United Way of Inner Wisconsin!”

“I do a lot of taxes every year,” said Audrey Bonney, Accountant for Park Place Adult Day Services and a volunteer tax preparer for the AARP Tax Aide Program.  “I have been doing taxes for AARP for 10 years and on my own for 40 years.  When my grandchildren started working and needed to file taxes, I looked for a way to file them without costing them money.  I went online to find that you can file taxes free with MyFreeTaxes as long as you do not make more than $66,000.  The program is easy enough that a person not trained in tax preparation can file their own taxes. One of my grandchildren goes to school and works out of state, therefore I have to file two state returns – this is very easy using MyFreeTaxes.  Everyone gets stressed out at tax time and many pay lots of money to file a simple return.  MyFreeTaxes can help with both issues.”