KYCC’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program held its annual tax preparation service—from January to April of this year—for thousands of low-income families living throughout Los Angeles. This season, our efforts saw a record of 10,488 tax returns, bringing $12 million in refunds, and the event was made possible by a team of 250 volunteers who collectively contributed 2,813 hours of service.
Through funding from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the City and County of Los Angeles, the VITA program oversaw all aspects of tax preparation at over 100 free workshops. Along with the KYCC free tax prep site, the four other locations involved in this year’s VITA efforts were Children’s Bureau at Magnolia Place, 1736 Family Crisis Center, West LA Community College and South Bay One-Stop Business Center.
This year, KYCC’s VITA initiative was also a part of the Free Tax Prep LA campaign, which kicked off the season with a symposium to educate other social service agency providers to promote tax season, free tax prep services and tax credits. At the Asset Building Symposium earlier this year, KYCC Economic Development Specialist Doris Valenzuela and Senior Financial Case Manager Audrey Casillas delivered presentations on financial well-being and free tax service providers.
KYCC would like to thank Hanmi Bank, CBB Bank, Bank of Hope, Pacific City Bank and Open Bank for providing us with financial and volunteer support.
KYCC is the lead organization for the Los Angeles Tax Collective. Since its inception in 2006, our VITA program has been one of the leaders in providing free tax preparation services for the Los Angeles community, serving nearly 30,000 low-income families throughout central Los Angeles and returning more than $27.5 million in refunds back to our community.
“This season, KYCC was able to reach people through the Free Tax Prep LA Campaign and its amazing outreach,” Casillas said. “The campaign was broadcast throughout the city—on the Metro, at gas stations and community centers, and on ads on TV and the internet—and we were able to access new clients and help them obtain the tax refunds that they are owed.”