Ladder Up

Tax Assistance program:ladder Up operates one of the largest and oldest state-wide volunteer income Tax Assistance programs of its kind, offering both in-person and digital services to over 13,000 individuals across Illinois. Ladder Up provides families with free, high-quality Tax preparation and an alternative to paid Tax preparers. Ladder Up offers multiple types of services as well as multiple safety protocols to ensure the safety of its clients and volunteers. In the 2023 Tax season, Ladder Up clients qualified for an average refund of $1,941, and over 76% qualified for a federal Tax refund.

Financial capability program:ladder Up provides year-round workshops, coordinates savings campaigns, and offers financial coaching to help clients set financial goals and manage major life financial events. In addition to this, Ladder Up highly values and supports its free application training for federal student aid (fafsa) and completion workshops at high schools for schools and community partners.

Low-income Tax clinic:ladder Up provides free, high quality professional repressentation to low-income Tax payers facing an irs or idor controversy. Through its offices, Ladder Up offers educational outreach on the earned income Tax credit, stimulus payments, advance child Tax credits, taxpayer rights, responsibilities and collection alternatives. The Tax clinic delivers nearly half a million dollars in decreased liabilities to our clients each year.