Speaker Series: Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) & Free Tax Return Preparation

A program of Empire Justice Center, the Creating Assets, Savings, and Hope (CASH) is a long-standing staple in the Rochester community. The CASH program offers free tax return preparation services to ensure low to moderate income workers collect all credits for which they are eligible. One of the programs under CASH is ROC Your Family’s Future (RYFF) which helps low-income working families that are eligible for Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC), but not currently enrolled in the program. EITC is currently one of the largest poverty-fighting programs in the nation. This is due to the average EITC refund being $2,461. For a qualifying family with three qualifying children the EITC refund could increase to over $8,000. The RYFF program helps families use their refund money (that they earned from working and are receiving back) to promote financial and household stability. Having more money in the household helps to prevent adverse childhood experiences (ACES). ACES can include physical and emotional abuse, neglect, caregiver mental illness, and household violence. In this presentation we will cover the services CASH provides, a brief overview of EITC and ACES, and how to join our program.