13% of King County Residents are food insecure. This means 1 in 6 adults was unsure how to provide food for themselves or their families during 2012.

Hunger is a cyclical problem that inhibits many families from establishing stability in other areas of their lives. Think about your own life, what has caused you to forfeit a meal? Possibilities could include that you remembered your debit account was low, you reached into your wallet and didn’t have the $10 you thought you saved, or perhaps…

United Way of King County’s Free Tax Preparation Campaign helps families around King County file their taxes and get the refunds that they are eligible for.  With these refunds, families are able to meet basic needs that they might not otherwise be able to maintain.

Last tax season, volunteers completed more than 14,000 tax returns, getting more than $20 million in tax credits and refunds returned to members of our community.

Get involved! Sign up to be a tax return preparer at…

Some recent improvements in the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are set to expire at the end of the year which would negatively impact working families with three or more children and married couples. Your voice is needed to urge Members of Congress to make these improvements permanent and to protect the EITC in conversations regarding deficit reduction and tax reform. Take action today.

About the EITC

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit for working individuals who…

Below is a piece written by friend and volunteer of United Way of King County, Vidhi Surana Datar.  Her stories about how being a Bridge to Basics Intake volunteer changed her perspective are touching and insightful and speak to the power of volunteering and the fabric of community.

Being from the field of computers I was excited about doing tax filing in the Free Tax Preparation Campaign by United Way of king County. But I was disappointed as I was late for it.

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The Seattle-King County Asset Building Collaborative will be having their annual Financial Fitness day on March 31^st. They have joined with over 40 community partners to be able to bring community members FREE financial services. These services include everything from one-on-one help filling out a tax return, printing and analyzing free credit reports, opening bank accounts, creating a household budget, working with a financial planner, applying for public benefits (food, utilities, child care, health insurance, social security), learning how to start a business, shredding…

“Token days are not the ebb and flow of life.  They ease our feelings of regret about the way things have to be for the remainder of the year.  They do not really change the way things are.”–Jonathan Kozol, “The Shame of the Nation”

Last Friday was Day of Caring, my 13th with United Way of King County.  I was among about 300 volunteers (there were over 10,500 total throughout the county) that spent the day at Qwest Field for the Community Resource Exchange.  In…

The other day, we had the honor of having Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn stop by our tax site at the downtown public library.

Mayor McGinn learned more about the awesome work we do, toured the library site, and even volunteered to do some client intake!

We are thrilled that the city and Mayor McGinn supports our free tax campaign.  Thanks to a grant from the city, we are able to file 13,000+ returns that lead to over $17 million worth…

There are a lot of us exhibiting some pretty negative emotions these days towards our federal government, and as April 15th approaches a lot of that sentiment will inevitably turn towards our buddies at the Internal Revenue Service.  And let’s face it, some of those feelings are warranted, no doubt.

But I’d like to talk about an IRS program that many people may not even know about.  It’s one of the most successful community volunteer initiatives ever, in terms of return on investment (for you…

Yesterday, the IRS released a statement indicating that there are more than $1.3 billion in unclaimed federal tax refunds for people who did not file for 2006. This includes approximately 37,000 filers in Washington state! If you are one of those people, you need to file your 2006 return by April 15, 2010, or you lose that refund…

Our sites can help!  Don’t miss out on your money!!

Get your taxes done for FREE!!

Now through April 15, 2010, United Way of King County will operate 17 free tax preparation sites throughout King County.  Tax assistance will be provided by over 550 volunteers who are trained and certified by the IRS.

Who is eligible for this service?

What services are available at tax sites?

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