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Are you looking for a trained volunteer to assist you with the completion of your federal tax return? The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program serves individuals across Pennsylvania. You may be eligible if you meet the following criteria:

• Income eligibility varies slightly from county to county, but in general households earning less than $58,000 are eligible. To see detailed eligibility criteria for your county, go to the PA 211 self-scheduling tool or dial 211 and select the tax option to speak with our Resource Navigators.
• VITA prepares federal returns, but not all VITA sites are able to do state and local taxes. All VITA sites that complete state and local taxes can only do so if they are also completing your federal return.
• You must have a social security number or an ITIN number for everyone on your tax return. If you do not have one, you still have time to request one.
• You must have received all your W-2s and tax documents.
• Most VITA sites are unable to assist with more complicated returns that include cancellation of debt on property, rental income, or housing allowances.

There are two ways to use PA 211 to schedule your VITA appointment this year:

• Self-scheduling, which allows you to schedule at your convenience by selecting your county, going through the specific eligibility criteria, and choosing your appointment time.
• Dialing 211 to get a trained Resource Navigator to walk you through the eligibility process, then make an appointment for you.

Not all counties are offering VITA programs scheduled through PA 211. If your county is not offering a VITA program through PA 211, you can check out MyFreeTaxes.com. MyFreeTaxes.com is a free web-based tool to file your taxes independently, and there is phone support available in multiple languages. There is no income limit to use MyFreeTaxes.com, however, this tool is intended for simple tax returns.

For more than a decade, United Way has helped people easily and accurately file their federal and state taxes through MyFreeTaxes.com. Since 2009, more than 1.2 million people have used MyFreeTaxes and saved $250 million dollars in filing fees!