Nonprofits say poor CT families missed $120 million in tax relief

CT Mirror – Thursday, November 7, 2024
By Keith M. Phaneuf

Like many single parents, Sarah Desenclos struggles at times to make ends meet.

The 37-year-old mother of two makes between $40,000 and $50,000 per year as an office assistant but still manages to find the resources to cover her household bills, keep her car running and help her daughter with college tuition.

What Desenclos does — and many other low-income householders in Connecticut don’t — is take maximum advantage of all the tax relief to which she’s legally entitled.

By participating in the free taxpayer assistance that many nonprofits offer statewide, Desenclos says her federal and state income tax refunds often exceed $5,000 and sometimes reach as high as $10,000.

But according to the United Way of Connecticut and SimplyCT, a Stamford-based tax assistance nonprofit, an estimated 45,000 low-income Connecticut families failed to claim their full federal income tax benefits three years ago, forfeiting roughly $120 million.

Click here to read the entire article.