Congressman Gerry Connolly will be speaking during a free tax assistance service to be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center. 

The event, held at 1086 Elden St., will provide free tax preparation and filing assistance for low and moderate income taxpayers. The HNRC is an IRS-certified Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site. 

There are more than 6,000 similar sites across the nation that are assisting taxpayers this year. Last year volunteers helped prepare more than 1.6 million returns. 

In Fairfax County, 2012 volunteers helped file about 4,800 tax returns, helping provide about $8.5 million in refunds to local taxpayers.

The Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center is operated by Fairfax County and managed by Reston Interfaith, and provides educational, homeowner, health and social service programs to the Herndon area. 

Connolly will attend the event on Saturday along with representatives from Reston Interfaith, the IRS and a number of other organizations. Connolly is a cosponsor of the VITA Act legislation, which provides more funding through matching grants for VITA programs across the country. 

“Far too many Americans are leaving hard-earned money on the table by failing to claim tax credits available to them,” Connolly said in a press release.

“According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an estimated 20 to 25 percent of workers and families eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled fail to claim these tax benefits each year,“ Connolly said.

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