Free Service Makes Tax Season Less Taxing for Detroit Area Residents

Free Service Makes Tax Season Less Taxing for Detroit Area Residents
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Twenty years ago, Ron Lang walked into the Detroit Library as a tax preparation volunteer. The normally quiet library space was packed with nearly 200 people waiting for free tax preparation service. Ron took a seat in the makeshift Ford tax office and got ready for his first client. The clinic seemed primitive compared to today’s setup, there were no laptops or accounting software, just pens, paper and adding machines. He smiles as he describes his first experience as utter chaos, and he has volunteered every year since.

The free tax preparation clinics help residents claim their eligible benefits including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). According to the IRS , the EITC is one of the largest antipoverty programs in the U.S.
A tax refund and EITC can have a significant impact on a person’s financial situation especially when they are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Ford Chief Tax Officer, Ron Lang is volunteering at the Ford Resource and Engagement Center Southwest (FREC), 2826 Bagley St., Detroit. Would you like to set up a time for an interview during one of his volunteer days? He can share some of the emotional experiences he’s had while working clients , details on the program, and how people can still get help.

A few other useful facts:

Ford tax clinic volunteers worked over 500 hours in 2019

Completed nearly 350 tax returns
Helped Detroit area residents claim over $470,000 in tax refunds
Ron Lang has been one of those volunteers for the past 20 years.

Ford provides two of the clinic locations (FREC 1 & 2), financial support for the program, and Ford volunteers are trained to prepare tax returns.

The Earned Income Tax Credit is a tax credit for people who work, and earn low to modest incomes. EITC is one of the largest antipoverty programs

Free tax preparation service financially empowers people by helping them to take advantage of their eligible benefits under basic tax laws and maximize their refunds, i.e., Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Homestead Property Tax, Poverty Exemption, etc.
1 out of 5 people who qualify for EITC don’t claim it

For the 2018 tax year, 25 million people received about $63 billion in EITC