Kim’s Story - 2006
Kim called the Franklin Asset Building Coalition after getting a "stuffer" about free tax preparation in her pay envelope.
Kim is a single mother of two young children who had returned to school to complete a nursing degree at the NH Community Technical College in Laconia. She graduated in the spring of 2005, and so had only worked part time for much of the year.
Her income qualified her for the maximum amount of the Earned Income Tax Credit as well as the Child Tax Credit and Tuition Tax Credit, along with property tax deductions on the home she owns.
When told her tax refund would be more than $6,000, Kim was flabbergasted. "You made my day," she told the trained tax preparer at the Franklin Celebrates Family Resource Center. "You made my week. In fact, I think you made my year."
When asked what she planned to do with her refund, she thought about how she had been unable to contribute to her retirement account during this period of low income. Kim also noted that she was getting remarried and that she and her fiancé hadn't planned an elaborate honeymoon. "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii," she said.
Today, Kim is working full time as a maternity nurse at Lakes Region General Hospital, and her wedding plans are proceeding. No word on where she's going on her honeymoon, but it is the EITC that helped to fuel her exotic dreams.