HELENA — A free service offered through United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area aims to give tax filing assistance and hopes to save people money.
Doing your own taxes can sometimes be a confusing and frustrating task. But United Way has partners who are able to help with basic tax returns.
“...lots of different types of people that help people to get their taxes done. Some of them host clinic sites. Some of them actually prepare the taxes,” said the Executive Director of United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area, Emily Mcvey.
Partners for this free tax help include Rural Dynamics, AARP, Montana Legal Services Association, and the IRS. This tax service is for basic returns, and you must meet certain criteria in order to utilize the service.
This program can not only help avoid confusion and frustration but help save people money. Mcvey says that this program has helped bring about a million dollars a year back into people’s pockets pre covid.
“Prior to Covid, we were doing about 1,000 tax returns through the free tax help program. And that was bringing back just about $1,000,000 in tax returns to our community every year. And that is a really big deal for our economy of Helena,” says Mcvey.
There will be two in-person clinics. One will be at the Good Samaritans Ministries Thrift Store. And another will be at the Rocky Mountain Development Council Senior Center. There is also a free tax service offered through myfreetaxes.com, as well as other options through the Montana Department of Revenue’s website.
