The Western Maine CA$H (Creating Assets, Savings & Hope) Coalition has IRS-certified volunteers ready to prepare taxes for free.

A household that makes less than $57,000 a year and is looking to save money, but get taxes done by an IRS-certified preparer, can call and schedule an appointment, according to a news release from United Way of the Tri-Valley Area.

There are two ways for tax filers to get started:

1. Call 211 and schedule an appointment for its Scan & Go service. Meet one on one with filers to get tax paperwork, ID information, etc. scanned in. Masking is required and the number of people in the building at one time will be limited. A follow-up appointment will be scheduled by phone or in person to review the completed return. Once reviewed and approved, the return will be e-file as usual.

2. Go to getyourrefund.org/westrnme and scan documents to the coalition that has partnered with GetYourRefund. People can take pictures with their phone and upload them to the secure cloud. Filers will be contacted within 72 hours of the upload to confirm that all documents have been received, and taxes will be prepared virtually by its IRS-certified volunteers within a week.

There are some changes for this tax year:

• For those who did not receive their stimulus check in 2021 (the $1,400 per person last January/February), IRS-certified preparers can get this stimulus for folks through the Federal return process.

• Everyone with a child (with or without taxable income and within the income guidelines) is eligible for the child tax credit. To get the entire child tax credit, parents/guardians must file a 2021 federal tax return. If the advanced monthly payments from July to December was not received, preparers can include the entire amount on the 2021 tax return. For families that did get the advanced child tax credit (payments from July-December 2021) the return will include the other half of the credit.

• For those needing only a State of Maine return, this includes individuals with non-taxable income such as Social Security, retirement, pensions (under a certain amount and with no withholdings), SSI and SSD, and who pay property tax or rent. Maine offers a Property Tax Fairness Credit and Sales Use Tax Credit, which can range from $125 up to $1,200.

There is a strict quality control process established to ensure that returns are successfully filed (Western Maine CA$H has the lowest reject rate in the state). Its volunteers will work hard to get the best return possible with all eligible state and federal credits, and its opportunity guides will share information on valuable resources in the community, according to the news release.

To learn more about the coalition, and other locations, services and volunteer opportunities, visit cashmaine.org. For more information about United Way of the Tri-Valley Area, check out uwtva.org, its Facebook page, call 207-778-5048, or visit 218 Fairbanks Road, Farmington.