United Way of Northeast Arkansas hosts free tax filing

Jonesboro, Arkansas – One local non-profit organization is lending a helping hand when it comes to tax filing.

For those who make less than $58,000 per year, people with disabilities, and limited English speakers who need assistance with filing, United Way of Northeast Arkansas is offering free tax filing.

According to Erin Calhoon, director of business development, appointments this year are more limited than usual, so it’s important to go ahead and schedule one if you can.

“This year, we are only open on Saturdays so we are limited on our tax appointments a little bit more than we have been in the past,” she said. “So, if you are considering or trying to find a preparer to get those taxes done, go ahead and go to our website and get that scheduled now.”

Participants will meet with IRS-certified volunteers who will electronically file the taxes after they are reviewed by a volunteer base of certified CPAs.

“Every return that is prepared goes through a review process,” Calhoon said. “So our clients will come in and sit at a desk with their preparer, they prepare the return and then they print it out and that return and client will go to the review process where we have our more experienced volunteers who have been with the program for 10 years and they will review all of those returns.”

According to Calhoon, it’s important to go ahead and get your documents in order ahead of time if you want to participate in the free service.

“On our website, they can find a list of what to bring. It’s important to go ahead and start collecting those documents so that when tax season comes around in February, you have all your documents in a packet,” she said.