January 27, 2010 > Free tax preparation services help claim millions in tax credits Free tax preparation services help claim millions in tax credits Submitted By Robin Reynolds Lower-income Santa Clara County families are eligible to share in millions of dollars in tax credits, yet every year much of that money is unclaimed. Supervisor Dave Cortese has partnered with Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County at the start of the 2009 tax preparation season with no-cost tax preparations to help families maximize their income tax benefits and avoid the high cost of commercial tax services. The Earn It! Keep It! Save It! program, a partnership of the United Way of Silicon Valley and the Internal Revenue Service, was created to help Santa Clara County residents benefit from Earned Income Tax Credit, an often-overlooked federal tax benefit. Qualified working families can earn up to $4,800 in tax refunds. Last year, the program helped bring over $4.1M back to Santa Clara County. Families participating in the program will receive free one-on-one multilingual tax preparation and electronic filing and valuable financial education and counseling. These services are provided by community volunteers at over 25 VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) locations throughout Santa Clara County through April 15, 2010. Online assistance and a list of sites are available at www.211scc.org.