Need Help Filing Your Taxes?

VITA, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, offers free tax preparation in Acadiana, and now they are announcing two "Super Tax Days" for people with qualifying incomes.

There will be two locations for tax help this Saturday, February 13.  One location is Acadiana High School at 315 Rue de Belier, and the other location is Northside High School at 301 Dunand St.  Both schools are in Lafayette.

If you or your family had an income less than $54,000 last year, you may be eligible for free help in preparing your taxes.

Both VITA sites at the school will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you would like to go to the VITA site at Acadiana High, you need to make an appointment by calling 337-232-4357. For those wishing to get help at Northside High School, you can either make an appointment or just show up on Saturday as walk-ins are welcome.

At each site, there will be IRS-certified, trained volunteers to help you will your taxes. They will also help you find out if you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). If you do qualify, you could get back up to $6,200 extra money as part of your return.

In addition to these two locations that will be open this Saturday, VITA offers other help in 11 other locations in Acadiana which will be open through April 18.

The following is a list of the parishes and sites where you can get help in Acadiana:

• Acadia Parish, Assist Agency, 11 North Parkerson, Crowley, LA 70526, 337-788-7550, ext. 138
• Iberia Parish, Iberia Parish Library, 445 E. Main St., New Iberia, LA, 70560, 337-364-7024; SMILE/New Iberia, 722 Walton St., New Iberia, LA, 70560, 337-365-8151
• Lafayette Parish, Acadiana High School, 337-984-2324; SMILE/Lafayette, 501 St. John St., Lafayette, LA 70501, 337-234-3272, ext. 219; Proyecto Hispano de Ayunda la Comunidad, 1006 Surrey St., Lafayette, LA 70501, 337-849-4145
• St. Landry Parish Continuous Links, 8202 Highway 182, Opelousas, LA, 70570, 337-942-3911; The Southwest Center for Rural Initiatives, 1209 Diesi St., Opelousas, LA 70570, 337-943-2410
• St. Martin Parish, SMILE/St. Martin, 2097 Terrace Rd., St. Martinville, LA, 70582, 337-394-6013
• St. Mary Parish, St. Mary CAA Central Office, 1407 Barrow St., Franklin LA 70538, 337-828-5703
• Vermilion Parish, ASSIST Agency, 407 Charity St., Abbeville, LA 70510, 337-898-9554

Margaret Trahan, President/CEO of United Way of Acadiana, sponsors of the sites, had this to say about the free help:

“For folks who live in poverty or who live each day one crisis away from falling into poverty, accessing the Earned Income Tax Credit and this free service can be life-changing. United Way of Acadiana believes everyone deserves opportunities to have a good life: a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income for a family to be financially stable, and good health. VITA services can help put money back in people’s pockets, giving them the opportunity to gain financial stability.”

For more information on VITA help you can call 2-1-1, 337-232-4357, or visit www.UnitedWayofAcadiana.org/VITA. Get the full list of sites by texting key word FREETAXPREP to 51555.