A group of 16 credit unions who participated in the IRS Voluntary Income Tax Assistance program finished the 2009 tax season having helped thousands of low income members receive millions of dollars.

The coalition, which was made up of nine credit unions new to the VITA Program and seven with previous experience, prepared more than 3,500 tax returns totaling over $5 million, including $2.5 million in Earned Income Tax Credits, according to the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions which helped in the effort. In addition to the returns, the National Federation estimated that coalition VITA sites helped residents of low-income communities save nearly $400,000 in tax preparation fees.

"The Federation is proud to partner with the IRS to support and promote VITA sites at credit unions across the country," said Federation CEO Cliff Rosenthal. "The credit unions participating in our coalition exemplify the mission of serving low and moderate income people, but many would have been unable to offer this important service to their communities without grant support from the IRS. These types of programs require significant staff time and many credit unions simply do not have the excess liquidity to support the added expense."