Trinidad State helps local families receive tax refunds

ALAMOSA — During the 2017 tax season, Trinidad State Junior College partnered with the Denver-based Piton Foundation to provide free tax preparation assistance to low- to moderate-income families through the Tax Help Colorado program. At Trinidad State’s free tax site, IRS-certified students filed 167 returns, helping local taxpayers claim $316,433 in federal and state refunds.

This year, 10 Trinidad State students spent countless hours preparing and filing returns for individuals with household incomes of less than $54,000, helping to alleviate the burden of commercial tax preparation costs on low-wage earners.

Many of those who participated in the program are eligible for tax benefits for working families with children such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). One of the nation’s most successful anti-poverty tools, the EITC promotes employment while providing valuable refunds to minimum-wage earners who oftentimes struggle to make ends meet for their families. Low to moderate-income workers can also claim a state EITC, which is 10 percent of the federal EITC. Working families claimed $115,950 in EITC refunds at Trinidad State this year.

In 2017, 20 colleges and three high schools participated in Tax Help Colorado. Overall, more than 7,800 individuals received free tax preparation services. Tax Help Colorado helped families claim more than $14.4 million in tax refunds in 2017, including over $4.5 million from the EITC. The program helped save low-income Coloradans more than $1.9 million in commercial tax preparation costs.