Broome Tax Prep. Program Returns A Million Dollars to Residents

The United Way of Broome County and the Broome County Department of Social Services are announcing the return of over a million dollars in federal and state income tax refunds this year by users of a free tax preparation service.

The refunds come from tax returns filed by residents with help from the free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or “VITA” tax preparation program.

The VITA program provides free tax preparation for low to mid-income households in the region and pays special attention to tax credits that often go overlooked.

Trained tax preparers include students from SUNY Broome and Binghamton University.

According to a news release from the United Way, over 600 households took advantage of the VITA preparers' skills.

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In total $1,087,781 in refunds were processed.

In addition to the amount of money returned, taxpayers using the free service saved around $182,700 in what would have been spent in paying for tax preparation services.

The VITA tax preparers were recognized at an event at the United Way of Broome County on April 23.