Beginning this month in the Delphi community a free program is partnering with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to offer free tax preparation for the low to middle income population.

The program is called the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and offers free tax preparation, along with promoting financial literacy and asset building. The IRS offers free training materials to volunteers to certify them to prepare taxes while local businesses, governments, banks and non profits join together to provide tax site locations, resources such as laptops, printers and office supplies.

Kathy Bell, a new resident in Delphi, is forming a coalition to promote the VITA program. The Carroll County EITC coalition will provide the community free income tax preparation. Bell will act as the VITA site and project coordinator.

Her experience includes a year serving as an Americorp "Volunteer in Service to America" (VISTA), a government volunteer program that is considered a domestic Peace Corp. As a VISTA she was housed at a Community Action Agency in Michigan, where the VITA program brought in $675,000 back to the community. She completed an additional year in order to fulfill internship requirements for an accounting degree. While working closely with the Community Action Agency and IRS she helped market and promote the VITA program while helping to manage the VITA sites. She also worked as a customer service representative with the IRS, answering tax law questions.

Since settling in the Delphi community Bell wants to promote the VITA program to bring the same results that the Michigan VITA program has seen.

The Carroll County EITC Coalition will be in contact with local businesses, banks and other service orientated organizations to help build the local coalition to serve the low to middle income population.

Anyone interested in volunteering or partnering with the coalition should call Bell at 765-564-9028.