Faculty members at the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy are used to crunching large monetary sums. However, these members were recently made aware of a monetary amount too significant to ignore.

According to the Forsyth Working Families Partnership, Co. residents were allowing an estimated million in tax refunds to slip through their hands.

In response to this finding, Yvonne Hinson, Price Waterhouse Coopers faculty fellow and associate professor of accountancy at the Calloway School, teamed up with the FWFP to bring this money back into the county.

On Nov. 14, a kickoff event was held for city and nonprofit leaders and local employers at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem.

Organized by the Calloway School in conjunction with the partnership, the kickoff looked to highlight the importance of the tax refund for the economic benefit of Forsyth and its surrounding counties.

"It is important that our city's larger employers and agencies help us communicate the message that this money is out there," Kay Albright, a social service worker with Forsyth Co., said.

The Forsyth Working Families Partnership is a coalition between the Forsyth County Department of Social Services, the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and other local nonprofit organizations.

Formed to educate the community about the earned income tax credit, a tax refund available to working families with incomes of around ,000 or less, the FWFP is using the IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program to help residents retain more of their hard-earned money. They are also soliciting the help of local employers and non-profit groups in communicating information about the credit and other available tax assistance to their employees and clients.

In order to facilitate the return process, Hinson and many other Forsyth County volunteers, including Calloway students, will assist hundreds of local taxpayers this spring through the IRS VITA program.

This free program is available to lower- to moderate-income taxpayers who can file simple returns.

By use of a worksheet, taxpayers in this category can determine whether they are eligible for such credit.

In some cases, earned income tax credit can amount to over ,000 per claim.

Based on research by the General Accounting Office, about 25 percent of workers who are eligible to receive the EITC fail to claim it.

"The IRS has tried in recent years to advertise the credit, however some people are hesitant to use it as they do not fully understand how it works," Hinson said.

"The VITA program has also been in this county for a few years but has not been heavily publicized. This year the FWFP has been created to start up new sites and advertise in attempt to reach potential filers," he said.

Beginning in February there will be at least five VITA sites around Forsyth County.

Hinson and her Calloway students have already partnered with Goodwill Industries, whose building on University Parkway will serve as such a site.

"Knowledge to work a VITA site closely parallels the policy issues students must learn in the class and it is a great way to put their knowledge into action," Hinson said.