State Offers Illinois Families Extra Help During Tax Season

              OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR______________ NEWS
Rod R. Blagojevich
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACTS:
January 22, 2009 Katie Ridgway 312.814.3058
Susan Hofer (IDOR) 312/814.8197
Anjali Julka (IDFPR) 312/814.0093
Thomas Green (IDHS) 217/558.1538
Marielle Sainvilus (IDHS) 312/814.8199
State Offers Illinois Families Extra Help
During Tax Season
Working families have more options for tax preparation
and EITC eligibility assistance
CHICAGO – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today urged Illinois families struggling in this slow
economy to take advantage of tax preparation assistance and the easy filing options available at
www.tax.illinois.gov. Working together, the Illinois Departments of Revenue (IDOR), Human
Services (IDHS) and Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) are offering an array of
services to help Illinoisans file their taxes and get their whole refund quickly.
“By filing their state taxes electronically, working families can get their entire refund fast and
free and avoid the cost of refund anticipation loans (RALs) offered by commercial tax
preparation companies. With many families scraping to get by during this national recession, I
am pleased that the State offers services to help more Illinoisans file their returns for free,” said
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich.
Many can file their federal taxes online for free; information about filing federal taxes on-line
can be found at www.irs.gov.
“Every tax season we see people being urged to purchase expensive tax software or go to one of
the large tax preparation firms to file their taxes and take out refund anticipation loans to get
their money more quickly. Illinois’ WebFile program is free and refunds can be deposited
directly into a family’s bank account to avoid the cost of cashing the refund check,” said
Director Brian Hamer, Illinois Department of Revenue.
Through a partnership between IDHS and non-profit tax assistance centers across the state, many
working families who are uncomfortable preparing and filing their returns electronically on their
own, can receive free tax preparation assistance and e-filing at tax assistance centers.