GREENFIELD — The Massachusetts Association for Community Action has launched its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program that helps low-income taxpayers prepare their tax returns.

The launch party at Greenfield Community College earlier this month, attended by local legislators, also marked the 50th anniversary of the earned income tax credit, a refundable tax credit for low- to moderate-income working people and couples, particularly those with children.

Community Action Pioneer Valley’s Executive Director Claire Higgins explained the tax credit was first conceptualized by President Richard Nixon and went into effect when signed into law by his successor, President Gerald Ford.

Higgins said the earned income tax credit and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) offer a vital lifeline to help parents in the lowest income brackets pay some bills. IRS-certified volunteers donate their time to provide free tax preparation to people meeting minimum requirements for annual income, residency and taxes, while also helping them to access the earned income tax credit, the new child and family tax credit, and other credits to low-income taxpayers. The assistance of VITA volunteers helps low-income residents pay their bills, cover essential needs such as rent, and save and plan for the future.

“There are some challenges, right? Lots of people can do taxes. There’s lots of … businesses that do taxes. But for the families that we work with, that payment to [do] those taxes often takes a lot of the money that they were planning to use to pay other bills,” Higgins said. “So the selling point of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program is that it’s free — 100% of the money that you get back, you keep. And that makes a huge difference.”

Kwabena Ayim, a program manager at the Massachusetts Association for Community Action, said programs like VITA provide reliable relief for families.

“The thing about taxes is you have to do them every year,” he said lightheartedly.

A video was shown depicting a taxpaying participant who expressed gratitude for the program and the volunteers’ warmth and kindness. There were also recorded messages from U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

McGovern said Community Action agencies in Massachusetts help more than 15,000 low-income taxpayers benefit from more than $26 million in tax refunds. There are approximately 80 VITA sites operating across the state, run by Community Action agencies and other community-based organizations and colleges.

“My colleagues and I will continue to fight for programs like VITA, which make a real difference,” he said. “Donald Trump wants to cut funding for these crucial and critical programs, but he just ran into a great big wall of resistance. And that wall is us.”

McGovern referred to state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, as champions for VITA.

“They’re incredible,” McGovern said. “I can’t thank them enough.”

To learn more about VITA in Hampshire and Franklin counties, visit communityaction.us/program/taxes/.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.