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West Central Minnesota Communities Action is dedicated to reducing the effects of poverty and helping people to achieve self-sufficiency, and improving the quality of rural life. In keeping with this mission, WCMCA is providing free tax preparation and e-filing to low-income individuals and families at tax sites in Elbow Lake and Alexandria. Please e-mail us at freetaxprep@wcmca.org to setup an appointment or for general inquiries.
A major goal of the project is to assist people in accessing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). One out of four families in the region do not file for the EITC. The average EITC return of $1,440 per family could mean a total increase of $1,834,908 annually to families in Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stevens and Traverse Counties (West Central Initiative figure). Such a figure could make quite an impact on local economies as well!
Therefore, WCMCA has started working with AccountAbility Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Revenue, United Way of Douglas and Pope Counties, West Central Initiative, and the Minnesota Community Action Partnership to offer tax clinic sites in two counties in the five county area. Thank you to our other partners for their generous donations: Otto Bremer Foundation, Tastefully Simple, and the REA Community Trust.
WCMCA Free Tax Preparation Sites and Other Contacts
WCMCA offers free tax preparation services to families who earn less than $50,000 per year and individuals who earn less than $25,000. These services are by appointment by calling 218-685-4486 or 800-492-4805 and speak to Melissa to set up an appointment at either site. Walk- ins may be able to be accommodated. Free Tax Preparation volunteers do not prepare self-employment or small business tax returns. WCMCA offers Free Tax Preparation Sites in the following areas: Click here for flyer
Grant County
West Central MN Communities Action (VITA Site)
411 Industrial Park Boulevard
Elbow Lake, MN 56531
Douglas County
WCMCA, Inc. Alexandria Site
United Way Office
2504 Aga Drive
Alexandria, MN 56308
For additional information on Free Tax Preparation sites, contact:
2-1-1 Minnesota Information and Referral
211 or 1-800-543-7709 or www.211unitedway.org
Free Service - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Multi-lingual lines: Available Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Spanish, Russian, Hmong, Laotian and Vietnamese
Minnesota Department of Revenue
1-651-297-3724 or www.taxes.state.mn.us
Minnesota Tax Help Line 1-651-296-3781
AARP Tax Aide Sites
1-888-227-7669 or www.aarp.org/taxaide
The Web site allows you to sort by zip code, county, state, city and distance from any location. Agencies may want to print a list of sites for the cities/counties they serve for their staff.
AccountAbility Minnesota Sites
1-651-287-0187 or www.accountabilitymn.org/
Internal Revenue Service IRS.gov
1-800-829-1040 or www.irs.gov
News from WCMCA Free Tax Prep Sites: What is the Earned Income Credit?
The EIC is a special tax benefit for working people who earn low or moderate incomes. It has several important purposes: to reduce the tax burden on these workers, to supplement wages, and to provide a work incentive.
Workers who qualify for the EIC and file a federal tax return can get back some or all of the federal income tax that was taken out of their pay during the last year. tHey may also get extra cash back from the IRS. Even workers whose earnings are too small to owe income tax can get the EIC. What’s more, the EIC offsets any additional taxes workers may owe, such as payroll taxes.
Who can get the Earned Income Credit (EIC) and how much is it worth?
Single or married people who worked full-time or part-time at some point in 2011 can qualify for the EITC, depending on their income.
- Workers who were raising one child in their home and had income of less than $36.052 (or $41,132 for married workers) in 2011 can get an EIC of up to $3,094.
- Workers who were raising more than one child in their home and had income of less than $40,964 (or $46,044 for married workers) in 2011 can get an EIC of up to $5,112.
- Workers who were not raising children in their home, between the ages of 25 and 64 on December 31, 2011, and had income below $13,660 (or $18,790 for married workers) can get an EIC up to $464.
Workers with investment income exceeding $2,800 in 2011 may not claim the EIC.
What is the Child and Dependent Care Credit?
Ten Things to Know About the Child and Dependent Care Credit
If you paid someone to care for your child, spouse, or dependent last year, you may be able to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit on your federal income tax return. Below are 10 things the IRS wants you to know about claiming a credit for child and dependent care expenses.
- The care must have been provided for one or more qualifying persons. A qualifying person is your dependent child age 12 or younger when the care was provided. Additionally, your spouse and certain other individuals who are physically or mentally incapable of self-care may also be qualifying persons. You must identify each qualifying person on your tax return.
- The care must have been provided so you – and your spouse if you are married filing jointly – could work or look for work.
- You – and your spouse if you file jointly – must have earned income from wages, salaries, tips, other taxable employee compensation or net earnings from self-employment. One spouse may be considered as having earned income if they were a full-time student or were physically or mentally unable to care for themselves.
- The payments for care cannot be paid to your spouse, to the parent of your qualifying person, to someone you can claim as your dependent on your return, or to your child who will not be age 19 or older by the end of the year even if he or she is not your dependent. You must identify the care provider(s) on your tax return.
- Your filing status must be single, married filing jointly, head of household or qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child.
- The qualifying person must have lived with you for more than half of 2010. There are exceptions for the birth or death of a qualifying person, or a child of divorced or separated parents. See Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.
- The credit can be up to 35 percent of your qualifying expenses, depending upon your adjusted gross income.
- For 2010, you may use up to $3,000 of expenses paid in a year for one qualifying individual or $6,000 for two or more qualifying individuals to figure the credit.
- The qualifying expenses must be reduced by the amount of any dependent care benefits provided by your employer that you deduct or exclude from your income.
- If you pay someone to come to your home and care for your dependent or spouse, you may be a household employer and may have to withhold and pay social security and Medicare tax and pay federal unemployment tax. See Publication 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide.
For more information on the Child and Dependent Care Credit, see Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses. You may download these free publications from http://www.irs.gov or order them by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
What is the Child Tax Credit?
Ten Facts about the Child Tax Credit |
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IRS Tax Tip 2011-29, February 10, 2011
The Child Tax Credit is an important tax credit that may be worth as much as $1,000 per qualifying child depending upon your income. Here are 10 important facts from the IRS about this credit and how it may benefit your family.
- Amount - With the Child Tax Credit, you may be able to reduce your federal income tax by up to $1,000 for each qualifying child under the age of 17.
- Qualification - A qualifying child for this credit is someone who meets the qualifying criteria of six tests: age, relationship, support, dependent, citizenship, and residence.
- Age Test - To qualify, a child must have been under age 17 – age 16 or younger – at the end of 2010.
- Relationship Test - To claim a child for purposes of the Child Tax Credit, they must either be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister or a descendant of any of these individuals, which includes your grandchild, niece or nephew. An adopted child is always treated as your own child. An adopted child includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.
- Support Test - In order to claim a child for this credit, the child must not have provided more than half of their own support.
- Dependent Test - You must claim the child as a dependent on your federal tax return.
- Citizenship Test - To meet the citizenship test, the child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien.
- Residence Test - The child must have lived with you for more than half of 2010. There are some exceptions to the residence test, which can be found in IRS Publication 972, Child Tax Credit.
- Limitations - The credit is limited if your modified adjusted gross income is above a certain amount. The amount at which this phase-out begins varies depending on your filing status. For married taxpayers filing a joint return, the phase-out begins at $110,000. For married taxpayers filing a separate return, it begins at $55,000. For all other taxpayers, the phase-out begins at $75,000. In addition, the Child Tax Credit is generally limited by the amount of the income tax you owe as well as any alternative minimum tax you owe.
- Additional Child Tax Credit - If the amount of your Child Tax Credit is greater than the amount of income tax you owe, you may be able to claim the Additional Child Tax Credit.
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For more information on WCMCA Free Tax Preparation Program, please contact:
Heather Thormodson- RSVP Program Director
West Central MN Communities Action, Inc.
411 Industrial Park Boulevard
Elbow Lake, MN 56531
Phone: 1-218-685-4486 or 1-800-492-4805 ext. 116
Fax: 1-218-685-6741
E-mail: heathert@wcmca.org
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