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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Federal Cash Available to Low-Income AZ Families

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Friday, January 28, 2011   

PHOENIX, Ariz - Low-income Arizona workers may be eligible for a tax credit of as much as $5,600, even if their income level doesn't require them to file a federal tax return. Today is Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day, designed to reach and assist potential recipients.

Arizona Community Action Association executive director Cynthia Zwick says the credit has a huge economic impact on the state.

"Last year, we had almost 521,000 Arizonans applying for this credit, which returned over $1 billion to the state and to families throughout the state."

Volunteer tax preparers are available at locations across the state to help determine eligibility, and to prepare and file returns. The locations can be found at www.cir.org or by calling 602-263-8856 in metro Phoenix or toll-free 1-800-352-3792.

Zwick recommends that low-income families use a tax preparation center operated by VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) instead of a commercial business.

"The rates that commercial tax preparers charge, particularly if a family takes advantage of a rapid-access loan, are huge. If a family files their taxes electronically at a VITA site instead, they can have their return in their bank account in two to seven days."

Zwick says the VITA volunteers will help low-income families find out if they are eligible for other tax credits, as well.

"There's also the child tax credit. If families are eligible for the earned income tax credit or the child tax credit, the VITA tax preparers will apply for that credit and make sure the family's aware of that."

Families earning up to $48,000 may be eligible for the earned income credit, but a federal tax return must be filed to claim the credit.


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