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Reaching Out to the Community

Honoring Bruce Elfant's years at Precinct 5

Bruce Elfant - Constable's Notebook Archives
(Mar. 2004 - Jan. 2013)

Constable's Notebook Archive

Constable's Notebook Archives - April 2007

Return to "The Courthouse Constable" newsletter page.

Entertainer, Arthur Godfrey once observed that “I am proud to be paying taxes in the United States, but I could be just as proud for half the money!”

‘Tis the season…to file our income tax returns. The Community Tax Centers are again providing tax preparation assistance at no charge for families with annual incomes of $50,000 or less and individuals who earn $25,000 or less. The 10 tax centers, located throughout Austin, are staffed by IRS certified and bilingual volunteers and are open weekends and evenings. Last year the tax centers helped prepare more than 10,000 tax returns for central Texas residents who received almost $13 million in tax refunds and credits. This year more than 6,600 residents have already filed their tax returns through the tax centers and have received average refunds of $3,242 and collectively saved more than $1 million in tax preparation fees.

The Community Tax Centers are a project of the Austin Community Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides housing,education and financial counseling services for low and moderate income individuals and families. They are committed to providing free tax preparation services to help people accurately prepare their tax returns and to help them take full advantage of all available tax deductions and credits including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Individuals and families who earn less than $36,348 per year may be eligible for anywhere from $412 to $4,536 in earned income and child tax credits which is based on income, marital status, and number of children. The IRS estimates that last year thousands of Austin families failed to claim more than $31 million in EIT credits. These refund credits could have helped Austin families and supported local businesses.

Information about Tax Community Center locations, hours of operation, specific services and required tax documents can be obtained by calling United Way’s 2-1-1 or the Foundation Communities website. The Community Tax Centers are funded in part by Travis County, City of Austin, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Chase Bank.