Public Employee Press

Free tax assistance for JTPs in DC 37

DC 37 joined forces with the city’s Parks Opportunity Program and the nonprofit FoodChange organization to provide free tax assistance to DC 37’s Job Training Participants, who work throughout the public parks system.

Five locations were set up around the city — in Harlem, Chelsea, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Flushing, Queens — where tax preparers were ready to assist the JTPs to file their taxes free of charge. The free tax help is available in English and Spanish.

More than 50 members of DC 37’s JTP Association came to the Passerelle Building in Flushing on Feb. 6 to make use of the free assistance. Yvette Courts, a JTP who works in Brooklyn, was one of more than 30 who arrived at the Chelsea Recreation Center in Manhattan on Feb. 7 to get help with her taxes. “This is great,” said Courts, who works in Park Slope. “I got a head start on filing my taxes and it’s free. You can’t beat that.”

The FoodChange tax preparers are experienced at helping members take advantage of special tax benefits aimed at low-income workers.

• Employees who learn $30,000 or less and pay child care expenses for children age 3 and under may qualify for the New York City Child Care Tax Credit, a new local tax credit of up to $1,733.
• Members may also be eligible to claim the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, which could provide as much as $6,000 for their family, if they earned less than $40,000.

Last year DC 37 provided free tax filing assistance for some 3,000 members and helped them get $8.5 million in refunds.

For free assistance members with no children must have earned less than $20,000 in 2007. With children, the member and spouse must have made less than $40,000 in 2007. The spouse’s income must be included to file jointly. Members who need free tax preparation assistance can call 311 to find the nearest tax assistance center.