Free tax return assistance available to 20 communities in Western Alaska

Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF) has partnered again this year with the Alaska Business Development Center (ABDC) to provide free tax return assistance to residents of the CVRF region through ABDC’s volunteer tax and loan program.

This is the 13th consecutive year that CVRF has provided tax assistance to the region in partnership with ABDC. CVRF provides funding for volunteer tax preparers to travel to the CVRF region to assist with the preparation of people’s tax returns. Local tax assistance events have been scheduled in all 20 CVRF communities from February 16th to March 4th. The anticipated dates are as follows*:

•Scammon Bay, February 16-18

•Eek, February 18-21

•Kipnuk, February 18-22

•Napaskiak, February 18-22

•Toksook Bay, February 18-21

•Quinhagak, February 18-24

•Napakiak, February 21-24

•Newtok, February 21-24

•Chefornak, February 22-24

•Oscarville, February 23

•Kwigillingok, February 25-28

•Goodnews Bay, February 25-28

•Tununak, February 25-March 1

•Platinum, February 28-March 1

•Kongiganak, February 28-March 3

•Nightmute, March 1-3

•Tuntutuliak, March 2-4

•Mekoryuk, TBD (rescheduled due to weather)

•Chevak, TBD (rescheduled due to weather)

•Hooper Bay, TBD (rescheduled due to weather)

*Dates are subject to change – residents are advised to check with their local community service representatives (CSRs) to confirm scheduling

CVRF’s local staff help to coordinate the volunteers’ stay in the communities and often times lodging is provided at CVRF’s Community Service Centers (CSCs). For the 2016 tax year, the program led to nearly $3.3 million in refunds and more than 2,000 completed returns. Other sponsors for the volunteer tax and loan program include the Alaska Division of Economic Development, Denali Federal Credit Union, GCI, Key Bank, State Farm Foundation, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, and Wells Fargo.

“Tax assistance is one of the many benefits that Coastal Villages provides for our twenty communities, said Deloras Lozano, a Community Service Manager for CVRF. “This program makes it easier for residents to receive tax services locally and at no cost. I have worked at Coastal Villages for several years now, and it is great to see that we continue to have a growing number of residents aware of and wanting the valuable services we provide. To see and hear positive words from our people is always heartwarming, especially about our programs designed to meet real community needs.”

Additional services are available to region residents through ABDC’s mail-in site. Interested residents are encouraged to visit www.abdc.org/taxforms for more information about the mail-in program.

About CVRF

Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF) is a 501(c)(4) Alaska non-profit corporation with 20 member communities located along the west coast of Alaska, from Scammon Bay to Platinum. It is one of six Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups granted fishing rights in the Bering Sea to foster sustainable and diversified local economies in western Alaska. CVRF is dedicated to creating sensible, tangible, and long-term economic development opportunities that generate hope for the more than 9,300 residents of its communities. CVRF is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of one member elected from each community. It is the largest Alaskan-owned seafood company in history and the first CDQ group to own and control the vessels that harvest the vast majority of its CDQ allocations.