VITA program running two Lawrence County sites

With the tax filing deadline less than two weeks away, volunteers with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program are staying busy in Lawrence County.

Kathy Moore, the site coordinator for VITA, said they have prepared more than 1,310 federal returns so far this season. She said many of those filers had multiple state returns.

The program is aimed at helping individuals, couples and families with tax preparation assistance. There is no fee for the service.

Moore said the program averages about 2,500 per year at its Lawrence County sites.

“It puts a lot of money back into the community,” she said. “We try to help as much as we can.”

The 12 trained VITA volunteers will be available from 9 a.m.-3p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the Ironton site, located at Ohio Means Jobs-Lawrence County at 120 N. Third St. A site in Proctorville at Ohio University Southern is open from 9 a.m.-3p.m. on Mondays.

Moore said the traffic had picked up as April 18 looms closer.

“We’re getting a bunch of everything today,” she said.

The VITA program was started by former Internal Revenue Service agent Gary Iskowitz at California State University Northridge in 1971. Over the years, the service has grown from a small group of accounting students to a nationwide program of more than 90,000 volunteers serving millions of taxpayers.