Timothy Chapman
02/27/2023
/Photo by Timothy Chapman
This the season of income tax filing and UTRGV has partnered with United Way to offer individuals with income below $73,000 tax filing assistance free of charge.
Manager of community impact and economic mobility for United Way worldwide Bryndan Steuve helps run My Free Taxes, he said it’s a free tax filing program that operates virtually helping people file their federal and state taxes.
“We help people either choose to file their own taxes using online software with the support of our IRS certified specialist if they need support and we also help people connect to local in person tax sites where they can have their taxes prepared for them for free,” Steuve said.
He said studies show, a lot of people tend to find tax filing to be a scary and stressful task but he wants to assure people that My Free Taxes provide a simple and convenient experience.
“What we try and do through My Free Taxes is to provide an environment that is safe, accessible, free and supportive to help people learn to file their taxes successfully and continue to file successfully with whatever level of assistance they need through that process as they develop those skills,” Steuve said.
United Way VITA program coordinator Viridiana Cruz said when she was in high school, she was never taught how to do her own tax returns which led to her interest in learning how, due to some people charging a lot of money for filing for clients.
“Whenever I went to do my tax returns for the first time, I remember they did charge me one hundred dollars for a very basic return, but back then I didn’t understand that. So now that I understand the process on how to do tax returns, I highly think that everyone should know how to do tax returns. It’s something that you’re going to do for the rest of your life,” Cruz said.
She said the VITA program has been in Hidalgo and Starr County for more than 10 years, but people are barely finding out about it now as a result of the partnership with UTRGV.
Many have avoided the resource due to their distrust of letting a stranger look at their taxes according to Cruz.
“Obviously they’re skeptical about it and they’re like oh, what if it’s not a program that we can trust because I know there is misinformation, but I do wanna reinforce that we are a safe program, we are granted by the I.R.S, we do go through training so we can be at the site,” Cruz said.
You can visit myfreetaxes.com to file your taxes online or you can visit U central at both the Edinburg and Brownsville campus and a VITA-certified United Way tax consultant will assist you step by step to file your taxes online.
To learn more about the documentation items needed to file your taxes for free at U central you can visit utrgv.edu
The free services will be available from now until March 10, Monday through Friday 9:00am to 4:00pm.
