Partnership helps senior citizens with income tax credits

YOUNGSTOWN — Five hundred of Mahoning Valley’s low- and moderate-income and senior residents received a combined $643,446 in earned income tax credits with the help of the Mahoning County Financial Stability Partnership.

The partnership, using volunteers at three Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and five AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, sites in the Valley, prepared 2008 federal income tax returns for 2,399 residents.

The number of returns prepared, of which 96 percent were electronically filed, is up 30 percent from 2007 tax year, said Ginny Pasha, director of Community Investment for United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, at a news conference Monday announcing the results of this year’s program.

United Way and the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, which used a $57,000 grant received from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, were funding partners for the program. FINRA is an independent regulator for securities firms doing business in the United States.

Read more in Tuesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com