For the 10th year Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois is helping people prepare their state and federal income taxes for free. The program is helping not only the Rockford area but it also benefits the volunteers working hard behind the scenes too.
“It’s easy because you get individual attention and the people here are doing it out of goodwill they’re not doing it for the money”, says Angel Aponte, a former Goodwill volunteer himself.
Aponte and his wife have been getting their taxes done here for the past three years. He says goodwill helps get his maximum refund, but that’s not the only reason they keep going back.
Aponte says, “the main benefit is that it’s free right? For people that don’t want to pay, it gives you the option to have more money on your refund because you don’t have to pay and Goodwill actually educates you and takes their time to go through it.”
It doesn’t take any extra steps to get your taxes done at Goodwill, bring your information and documents and the volunteer Tax Preparers will take it from there.
“Photo IDs and social security cards of course to protect their identities. They also need their tax documents, their W-2s, any 1099Rs they might have. If they’re looking to have direct deposit, we’ll need their checking account information. If they’re married, they’ll have to bring their spouse along with them. Generally it’s about two weeks generally we busy during this time of year. So two weeks is the normal time.” said Lance Perkins the Financial Programs Coordinator for Goodwill Industries of Northern Illinois.
One of the volunteers this year, Maria Naggayi, a Junior transfer student at Rockford University from Uganda, says this move is helping her establish her passion.
“I’m actually still in school, I go to Rockford University and I’m studying accounting towards the CPA, that’s why I decided to do this,” says Naggayi “I love numbers and I have actually decided what field to go into for accounting so that’s why i’m trying all different options to know where my love is at but for now I actually like the taxes.”
Goodwill’s Tax Preparers will assist community members in claiming any special credits and deductions for which they may be eligible. To be eligible for the tax prep the household needs to make $54,000 or less. To register call (815) 987 – 6200.
Goodwill’s free tax sites will be hosted at the following locations:
1. Rockford Goodwill Mission Services Center – 850 N. Church Street, Rockford, IL
Monday thru Saturday – 9am to 5pm
2. Rock Valley College – Woodward Technology Center – 3301 N. Mulford Rd., Rockford, IL
Thursdays – 3pm to 8pm
3. Northern Illinois University – Holmes Student Center – 600 Lucinda Ave., DeKalb, IL
Tuesdays – 2pm to 7pm
4. Beloit Public Library – 605 Eclipse Blvd., Beloit, WI
Fridays – 10am to 3:30pm (call for information)
For more information or to schedule an appointment online, go to http://www.goodwillni.org/good-taxes or call (815) 987-6200.
Prairie State Legal Services will be at the Rockford Goodwill location throughout the tax season. For specific dates, call (815) 987-6200.
Goodwill is also offering Federal and State tax filing online through the My Free Taxes Program. For those who earn less than $66,000 and would like to complete their own taxes online, free of charge, they can go to https://www.myfreetaxes.com/.
