The free assistance is being promoted by The United Way of Greater Knoxville’s Knoxville Alliance for Financial Independence, as a way to help individuals maximize their refunds through free tax preparation and the claiming of tax credits such as Earned Income Tax and Child Tax Credits.

Many people need access to their tax refunds quickly and are therefore vulnerable to using rapid refund tax services that charge fees and high-interest refund loans. The idea behind VITA is to offer these individuals and families a no-cost alternative to make sure they get as much money back as they are eligible for to help stabilize their financial situation.

For example, many rapid refund preparation businesses overlook the Earned Income Tax credit that is available to low income families. This credit alone can be as much as $4,500, based on income and family size. This can make quite a substantial difference in the amount of their refund.

Participants do not need to be Knox County residents to receive VITA’s free services. For questions or further information, contact Anna Seale with Consumer Credit Counseling Service at 865-329-8006 or anna.seale@cccsinc.org.

The new tables, prescribed by the Department of the Treasury, reflect the Making Work Pay credit and other changes resulting from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

You do not have to submit a Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, to get the automatic withholding change. If you do not want to have your withholding reduced (because, for example, you have more than one job or you are married and your combined income places you in a higher tax bracket), you may want to file a new Form W-4 with your employer. You may claim fewer withholding allowances on line 5 or request additional amounts to be withheld on line 6.

For additional help, get IRS Publication 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding? or visit the IRS Web site at http://www.irs.gov and use the “Withholding Calculator.”