Claim your money! Germantown free tax help community event

As City Council passes a bill to stop predatory tax assistance, groups in Philadelphia are holding an event to help people access free tax help and claim the money they are owed. Every year, tens of thousands of Philadelphians are left out because they do not know they are eligible for tax credits, or eligible for free tax help to get those credits.

The Campaign for Working Families will be assisting families getting their documents together to file taxes and get the most they are entitled to. Philadelphia Legal Assistance will be there to assist families who may have legal entanglements. Taxpayer Advocate Service can help those who have tax problems they can’t resolve on their own. There will also be food, rummage, a raffle, vendors, and kids’ activities.

The Crossroads Women’s Center has been working hard to spread the word about the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), as well as to advocate to make the pandemic era CTC expansion permanent. That expansion – an increased amount paid monthly including to those who didn’t earn enough to pay taxes – lifted half of children out of poverty. “It took the pressure off” said one grandmother who got the CTC for the first time to help care for the grandchildren in her custody. “Mothers and grandmothers have earned these tax credits many times over,” she said dismissing politicians who want to impose “work requirements” on those already working the hardest in society. There will be information on how to get involved in the advocacy campaign at the event.