Norton Press Conference at Tax Fair Saturday on Millions of Dollars Residents are Missing

Press Release

Norton Press Conference at Tax Fair Saturday on Millions of Dollars Residents are Missing

During her upcoming 8th Annual Tax Preparation and Information Fair, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will hold a news conference featuring a dialogue with a local college student in order to show that many D.C. residents are losing millions of dollars in little known tax credits for which they qualify. The 11 AM news conference on Saturday, February 9, will be held in Room 150AB at the Washington Convention Center, where professional tax preparers from the Internal Revenue Service, D.C. government and professional volunteers will be preparing tax returns for D.C. residents only, between 10 AM and 1 PM. The Congresswoman also will make a major announcement concerning free tax preparation her office will offer throughout the tax season for the first time.

Norton expects a big turnout again at her Tax Preparation and Information Fair, which gave assistance to 500 residents last year, because the downturn in the economy this year finds many residents short of money for necessities. Norton offers the service every year to D.C. residents, the only Americans who pay federal taxes without representation in Congress. "For the residents served, this free service at least helps mitigate the insult of paying to pay the government that has yet to reciprocate with the right to vote on the taxes residents are obliged to pay on or else," Norton said. In addition to getting their taxes prepared, residents can take a free, confidential HIV/AIDS test offered at all Norton events to help achieve universal testing of all D.C. residents in order to combat the city's high AIDS rate.

The annual Norton Tax Fair gives residents an alternative to exorbitantly high interest Rapid Refund Anticipation Loans, which are particularly attractive to low and moderate income families who want early access to their IRS refunds. On Saturday, typical D.C. taxpayers, who file a variety of common 1040 forms, will have their federal and D.C. tax forms filed electronically by more than 90 tax professionals on a first come first served basis. Residents will be able to take advantage of tax benefits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, Norton's $5,000 federal Homebuyer Tax Credit, which means cash from the IRS, along with more obscure tax credits and benefits such as the one that will be featured at the press conference. New to this year's Tax Fair, a dozen credit unions will be on hand to alert residents to their full range of banking services available at no cost throughout the District to all D.C. residents. In conjunction with the Maryland and D.C. Credit Union Association, credit unions here have launched a campaign to make consumers aware of alternatives to the predatory payday lenders that are similar to the tax preparers in charging high interest fees.

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