Free tax help is available through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program sponsored by Northern Santa Barbara County United Way in Lompoc and Santa Maria.

VITA offers free preparation to those earning under $40,000 for the year 2007 and who are not self-employed or a business owner.

Although the program has been available since early February, but there has been little response in Lompoc. The opposite is true in Santa Maria, where VITA appointments are nearly fully booked. Appointments are available in Lompoc through April 5.

Families and individuals who visit a Volunteer Tax Site should have with them picture identification cards, social security cards, birth dates, W-2 forms or 1099 forms, letters received from the IRS, rental information for NYS credit, child-care documentation listing provider name, address, tax ID number and amount paid, tuition expense statement (1098T) and/or student loan interest statement (1098E), court-ordered child support documentation, home interest and property taxes paid, medical bills paid, charitable contributions made during the year, and savings and/or checking account numbers.

Individuals must call 2-1-1 or 1-800-400-1572 from cell phones to see if they qualify and if they do, they will then be given a phone number to Community Action Commission to schedule their appointment.

Appointments will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays only, by appointment at Allan Hancock College's Lompoc Valley Center, 1 Hancock Drive.

March 7, 2008

Advertisement