Before working with VITA for the first time a few years ago, Sabrina tried several different tax preparation services. She always felt she might get scammed, and never had a positive experience.
“A lot of places are charging you an arm and six legs,” she said. “I tried one of those places you see waving the signs out on the side of the road – they charged me $50 and then kept almost my entire refund.”
After fighting to get her money back, Sabrina knew she needed to try something different. That’s when her mother told her about VITA.
“It’s free of charge and VITA is where it’s at,” Sabrina said. “It’s no scamming, this is a legit place and it’s real, 100 percent.”
Aside from the peace of mind she gets with VITA’s free services, what Sabrina loves most about VITA is how quick and easy the whole process is from start to finish. She provided all her information and within a few weeks she had her tax refund. Since the first year Sabrina used VITA, she said the refunds have been directly deposited into her bank account even more quickly, usually within a week.
“The people at the VITA sites I have been to are very great and they’re helpful and they get you all your money,” Sabrina added. “It’s wonderful and it works for me and for my daughter, too – I got her an appointment, and this was her second year with VITA.”
Sabrina said she prays VITA stays around. It changed her life and she sees it working for the community.
“It’s been a blessing to have the refund to help with bills and expenses and the price of everything going up.”
Sabrina likes how the VITA volunteers provide a list of all the information needed for the tax return and how they ask a lot of questions and cover all the details. She said the volunteers identified a tax credit she didn’t know applied to her.
“I don’t know how to do my tax preparation,” she said. “They have the skills at VITA; it’s an easy process.”
She said she was skeptical at first, but soon learned there was nothing to worry about. Today, Sabrina recommends VITA to everyone she knows – she tells them it’s accurate and there are no scams.
“Be aware,” said Sabrina. “There are scammers out there. But VITA is not one of them. I know that for a fact.”
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