Even in 2025, Tax Day remains one of life’s inevitabilities – and hundreds of volunteer tax preparers have been working to help St. Louis-area residents meet the April 15 deadline.
“We're able to kind of ease the nerves and tension of those individuals seeking to file,” said Linda Harris, vice president of impact strategies for United Way-Greater St. Louis.
The organization’s partnership with local tax coalitions assists households in the bi-state region with an annual income of $67,000 or less. More than 600 volunteers filed more than 18,000 tax returns last year, and Harris said the team has been even busier filing returns this tax season.
“It's been nonstop, which is great news, because it means that people have made this a priority to definitely file taxes early,” said Harris.
Preparers say returns are being processed and refunds delivered largely as usual, with refunds being received about three weeks after returns are filed online. That’s even after the Internal Revenue Service laid off thousands of workers in cost-cutting measures earlier this year.
Although Harris cannot confirm that specific concerns over shake-ups in the federal government and the tax agency spurred early filings, she knows the impact of returns via the earned income tax credit, which averages around $2,700, or the child tax credit is important to a lot of filers’ budgets.
“I'm sure [potential delays are] probably somewhere in the back of mind of the community,” she said.
The local volunteer income tax assistance program brought more than $17 million in tax refunds back to bistate households in 2024. The local programs aim to ensure household income taxes are filed in accordance with the law while prioritizing maximizing refunds. Harris said it’s important to work to reduce the tax burden on families, whose spending can then stay in their communities.
“The money is invested into the region through things like transportation, housing, education, child care and reducing financial stress overall,” said Harris.
The United Way encourages families to use Tax Day as an opportunity to take stock of their overall financial situation — even if they’ve already filed.
“Maybe you know that homeowners insurance is coming down the pipeline, or car insurance is coming down the pipeline, or you may need to replace a washer or a dryer or something of that sort: just doing future forecasting and using this time of year to do that,” said Harris. “Saving money for emergency funds or for long term investment – just doing a level-set, future forecasting, for things that you know may be coming.”
The IRS offers several resources for those filing last minute — or who may need to apply for an extension — on its website. Local help is still available via the United Way’s regional partners at 211helps.org or by dialing 211.
