Earned Income Tax Credit filings surge in Hawai‘i

Although the Earned Income Tax Credit is the federal government’s largest and most efficient anti-poverty program, the IRS estimates that, nationwide, about 25 percent of taxpayers who qualify fail to claim this benefit. In Hawaii, as much as $44 million in EITC benefits go unclaimed.

According to Aloha United Way, this year there was a 68 percent increase in the use of free tax assistance and a 232 percent increase in EITC filings at the assistance sites, which AUW attributes to EITC awareness campaigns, volunteer recruitment efforts and expansion of the free tax assistance sites.

Taxpayers can save between $150 and $250 in tax preparation fees by using the free assistance. Susan Tamanaha, AUW’s Family Self-Sufficiency program coordinator, is available to speak to groups about her program and EITC and to provide materials and information on the 2007 free tax assistance sites. Click here for EITC information in several languages, such as income thresholds.