LEWISTON – A program designed to help low- and moderate-income workers get more out of their income tax returns will work harder to appeal to new immigrants, officials said Monday.

Twin Cities officials, the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce and the LA Tax Coalition unveiled plans Monday for the 2009 “Take the Money; You’ve Earned It” program. The program offers financial education, financial planning as well as income tax preparation free of charge for low- to moderate-income workers.

The coalition of tax preparers, IRS and city of Lewiston officials began offering the program in 2004 as a way to encourage low-income residents to apply for the tax credit. It’s saved an estimated $5.7 million in state and federal taxes.

Volunteers will be on hand at the Multi-Purpose Center in Lewiston and Auburn Hall beginning Jan. 19 to help low- and moderate-income residents prepare their taxes and apply for the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit program. That’s a federal benefit for certain low- and moderate-income workers that can reduce income taxes by up to $4,716.

Jill Lorom of Coastal Enterprises Inc. said the program has offered translation services since the beginning, including French and Somali.

“But we found that by and large non-English speaking workers haven’t used the service, whether they found it intimidating or didn’t know about it,” Lorom said. Volunteers hope to remedy that, visiting areas where new immigrants live and agricultural job sites to promote the new program. They also plan on visiting Lewiston Adult Education’s English language classes to get the word out.

Translators will be available again, and the program has added Arabic speakers to the service.