SANTA BARBARA The United Way of Santa Barbara County is offering free bilingual tax preparation centers for families and individuals who earned less than $66,000 last year through its United for Financial Empowerment Partnership. As stated in a press release, the United Way’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance centers will have IRS-certified volunteers to help residents receive their tax refunds and provide free income tax preparation and E-filing.
They will also work to ensure that families benefit from California’s expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, which will be open to parents with at least one child and an income of $24,950 or less, adults between 18 and 24 without dependents, adults 65 and older without dependents, and self-employed individuals.
VITA centers offering tax preparation services through April 15 in Santa Barbara will be located at UWSBC headquarters at 320 E. Gutierrez St., Santa Barbara High School at 700 E Anapamu St. Room 71, Franklin Neighborhood Center at 1136 Montecito St., Police Activities League at 1235 Chapala St., and UCSB at Phelps Hall. Other locations are Goleta Valley Community Center at 5679 Hollister Ave. in Goleta, Santa Ynez High School at 2975 E. Highway 246 Room E-1 in Santa Ynez, and Carpinteria Children’s Project at 5201 8th St. Room 312 in Carpinteria.
A list of locations and days of operation can be found by going to www.unitedwaysb.org/vita and clicking on a link to the VITA schedule in the middle of the page.
