First Lady Maria Shriver Discusses Earned Income Tax Credit in Governor's Weekly Radio Address
Hi, this is Maria Shriver with this week’s California Report.
Tax Day is still a couple months away, but I want to tell you about a federal program that can make a big difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of working Californians.
It’s called the Earned Income Tax Credit and it’s an extraordinary program that aims to make “work pay” for those at the lower end of the pay scale.
The tax credit is our nation’s largest program for the working poor. It lifts more children out of poverty than any other federal program.
Working parents who meet eligibility requirements can receive a refund of up to $4,500 the average refund is about $1,700.
The EITC empowers families like Lucia Chamu’s. This year Lucia, a 38 year old mother who works as a food server for a public school, received $4,080 with the EITC alone. She is now able to purchase a computer for her kids and put a down payment on a car her family desperately needs.
Unfortunately, up to 650,000 eligible Californians are missing out on almost $1 billion in tax relief.
Arnold and I want to make sure every eligible Californian receives this money. We want it in the pockets of the California families who need it most and in our local and state economy.
So we want to tell you about a website where you can file your taxes for free and claim the Earned Income Tax Credit you’re entitled to.
The site is easy to access for people who don’t use computers.
The address is www.icanefile.org/myrefund. Or you can link to it from my official state website.
We’ve also set up California’s first toll-free hotline for information on the tax credit. You can call 1-888-3-MYREFUND, to ask about the credit or to locate free tax preparation sites in your area.
Again, that toll-free number is 1-888-3-MYREFUND or 1-888-369-7338.
Last year, Arnold and I visited Southern California and the Central Valley to talk about this program and it was really successful.
Now we want to take this message to the whole state and help people apply for this important tax credit. I also want to thank our partners in this effort. Univision and BET Television, they are helping us get the word out. And Legal Service organizations and the United Ways across the state will help working families complete their taxes for free.
I want to connect Californians with this powerful resource and you can help too by spreading the word.
Together, we can make a huge difference in thousands of people’s lives.
Thank you for listening.
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