Bethpage Federal Credit Union Offers Free Tax Filing Assistance for

FORIMMEDIATERELEASE
PressContact:
AudreyCohen/JackieSavage
Epoch5PublicRelations
631/427-1713
[email protected]
[email protected]
BethpageFederalCreditUnionOffers
FreeTaxFilingAssistanceforEligibleLongIslandersBeginningFebruary6&
HelpsWorkingFamiliesAccesstheCreditsTheyDeserve
----------------------------------
EligibleFamiliesFilingfortheEarnedIncomeTaxCredit(EITC)MayReceiveupto$8,000
Bethpage,NY–January26,2016–Forthe13thyear,BethpageFederalCreditUnionwillhelplow-to
moderate-incomehouseholdsonLongIslandpreparetheirtaxreturnsatnocost.TheVolunteerIncome
TaxAssistance(VITA)program,isofferedthrough12ofBethpage’sdesignatedbranchlocations
includingBayShore,CentralIslip,Elmont,Farmingdale,Freeport,Hempstead,Massapequa,Patchogue,
Riverhead,Roosevelt,WestBabylonandWestbury.
VITAserviceswillbeavailableonSaturdayafternoonsstartingFebruary6ththroughApril9th.No
appointmentsneeded.Over300IRScertifiedvolunteers,includingbilingualtaxpayerassistants,willbe
availabletomeetwitheligibletaxpayerswith2015incomesof$55,000andbelowtofiletaxreturns.
Bethpage’sVITAProgramisopentoalleligibleLongIslanders,includingnon-Bethpagemembers.
AspartofitsVITAprogram,thelargestacrossLongIsland,Bethpagewillalsopartneragainwiththe
HealthandWelfareCouncilofLongIslandtoeducateeligibleworkingfamiliesabouttheEarnedIncome
TaxCredit(EITC),ananti-povertyprogramavailabletofouroutoffiveeligibleLongIslandhouseholds.
EligiblehouseholdscanclaimuptothreeyearsbackofEarnedIncomeTaxCredits.
“Lastyear,27milliontaxpayersclaimedmorethan$65billionintheearnedincometaxcredit.Thiswas
duelargelytothepresenceofVITAsitesthroughoutlocalcommunities.Bethpage’sVITAsiteswerethe
mostsuccessfulandimpactfulsitesforLongIslanders—helpingworkingfamiliesaccessthecreditsthat
theywereeligibletoreceive,”statesGwenO’Shea,PresidentandCEO,Health&WelfareCouncilofLong
Island.“HWCLIcommendsBethpageFederalCreditUnionfortheirstellarVITAleadershipoverthepast
decade.TheireffortshaveputmillionsinthepocketsofLongIslandersandintheLongIslandeconomy.”
“Everyyear,we’rethankfultoseemoreandmoreLongIslandfamiliestakingadvantageofourfreetax
filingprogramwhichfamiliescaneasilyaccessatanyofthe12BethpagebranchesacrossbothNassau
andSuffolkCounties,”saidRobertSuarez,AssistantVicePresident,BethpageFederalCreditUnion.
“Wethankallofourvolunteerswhomakethisprogrampossible.Themajorityofwhoaretrained
accounting,financeandbusinessstudentsfromlocalpartneringcollegesanduniversities.”Thisyear’s
volunteersincludestudentsfromNYIT,SUNYOldWestbury,FarmingdaleStateCollege,TouroLaw
School,LIUPost,Briarcliffe,andStonyBrookUniversity.”
In2015,Bethpagecompleted2,516VITAtaxreturnsandhelpedsecureIRStotalrefundsofnearly$2.8
million.Bethpagealsohelpedsecure$344,991backinchildtaxcreditsin2015and$713,557inEarned
IncomeTaxCredits,withtheaveragecreditbeing$8,293.Sincetheprogram’sinceptionin2004,more
than12,500individualshavefiledtheirtaxreturnsthroughBethpage,resultinginnearly$15million
givenbacktoLongIslanders.
QualifyingtaxpayersplanningtotakeadvantageofBethpage’sVITAprogramneedtobringthefollowing
materialswiththemforreview:photoidentification,socialsecuritycardsforyou,yourspouseand
dependents,currentyear’staxpackageifyoureceivedone,wageandearningsstatement(s)FormW-2,
W-2G,1099-Rfromallemployers,interestanddividendstatementsfrombanks(Forms1099),acopyof
lastyear’sFederalandStatereturnsifavailable,bankroutingandaccountnumbersfortaxrefunddirect
deposit,totalpaidfordaycareandprovider’staxID.
Tofiletaxeselectronicallyforajointtaxreturn,bothspousesmustbepresent.Formoreinformationon
VITAandpaperworkneeded,pleasevisitBethpage’s“VolunteerIncomeTaxAssistanceProgram”page
locatedundertheCommunitysectionatwww.bethpagefcu.comorcall1-800-628-7070.
BethpageFederalCreditUnionisanot-for-profitcooperative,existingsolelytoserveitsmembersand
hasexperiencedrapidgrowthinrecentyearstobecomeastrongalternativetobanks.Bethpagewas
approvedforthelargestfederalcommunitycharterintheU.S.in2003andisnowthelargestcredit
unionintheNortheastregionandLongIsland’sprimarycommunityfinancialinstitutionwith275,000
members,33fullservicebranchesandmorethan60sharedbranchesthroughoutNassauandSuffolk
Counties.Asafinancialcooperative,Bethpageoffersthebest-inmarketrates,lowfeesandworld-class
service,andafullmenuofpersonalandcommercialfinancialservices.
BethpagemaintainsbranchlocationsinAlbertson,Baldwin,BayShore,BayShoreKingKullen,
Bethpage,Centereach,CentralIslip,CommackKingKullen,EastMeadowNuHealthMedical
Center,EastNorthport,Elmont,Farmingdale,Freeport,GlenCove,Hempstead,Huntington,
LevittownKingKullen,LIUPost(Brookville),LongBeach,Lynbrook,Massapequa,Melville,
Mineola,NorthBabylon,Patchogue,PortJefferson,Riverhead,Roosevelt,Seaford,Smithtown,
ValleyStreamKingKullen,WestBabylonandWestburywithover500surcharge-freeATMsinKing
Kullen,CVSPharmacyandCostcolocationsthroughoutLongIsland.Formoreinformation,call1-800628-7070orvisitwww.bethpagefcu.com.
###