MARYSVILLE — As part of United Way’s IRS-approved free tax preparation program in 2014, volunteers are needed to help north Snohomish County working families keep more of what they earn. All volunteers will receive training from United Way and will become certified by the IRS. In addition to tax preparers, United Way is also looking for volunteer greeters and intake screeners.

Goodwill’s Job Training and Education Center at 9315 State Ave. in Marysville will again be hosting a free tax preparation site. Volunteers who are multilingual are greatly needed.

The deadline for volunteer registration is Nov. 30. Trainings will be held in December and January. Each volunteer will be asked to contribute three to five hours a week from Jan. 21 until April 15. For more information and to volunteer, please visit http://uwsc.org and click on “volunteer.”

The program is designed to help working families prepare their income tax forms for free, raising awareness about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), child care and other available tax credits, while avoiding fees associated with for-profit tax preparers.

“The Earned Income Tax Credit is one of the most important federal anti-poverty programs,” said J. C. Hauchecorne, a volunteer tax preparer at the Marysville site. “I want to come back and continue to help the working poor in our community get all the credits they’re eligible for, without having to pay a service fee.”

Hauchecorne, a Stanwood resident, will be volunteering for his second season in 2014.

In 2013, volunteers at the Marysville site prepared 391 tax returns and helped working families claim approximately $730,000 in federal refunds, including nearly $218,000 through the EITC. They saved customers an estimated $64,500 in tax preparation fees. Across Snohomish County, 104 volunteers dedicated more than 3,800 hours to United Way’s Free Tax Preparation Program.

Since 2007, United Way volunteers have prepared more than 12,000 tax returns throughout Snohomish County, and helped Snohomish County working families claim $20.4 million in refunds.

United Way of Snohomish County will operate three free tax preparation program sites in Everett, and one each in the towns of Marysville, Monroe and Lynnwood, from Jan. 21 to April 15, 2014.

At the free tax preparation sites, customers will also be able to sign up for public benefits and learn about opportunities to make the most of their tax refunds. The free tax preparation program will provide taxpayers with information about asset-building resources such as credit counseling, savings bonds and health care options.

The Boeing Company, Washington State Department of Commerce, Goodwill, the Walmart Foundation and the Internal Revenue Service are the primary sponsors and partners of the United Way’s free tax preparation program, which is part of United Way’s efforts to help ensure Snohomish County families become and remain financially stable. Other components of the program include access to public benefits and other wealth-building products and services.