The IRS announced on Wednesday that it is cutting ties with ACORN after disastrous video footage was released showing ACORN workers offering inappropriate and flawed tax advice. The IRS will no longer include ACORN in its VITA (volunteer income tax assistance) program:
“The IRS has partnered with hundreds of community and volunteer organizations, including ACORN, to provide free tax assistance to low- and moderate-income Americans. It is absolutely critical that taxpayers have trust in our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program partners. In light of recent events, the IRS has decided to terminate its relationship with ACORN.”
For its part, ACORN had also (wisely) decided not to continue its tax program. The group’s president, Bertha Lewis, claims that a letter advising of this fact was mailed to the IRS on Monday.
Occasionally, a news item will come across my desk that will cause me to do a double take. This story, reported on the PR Newswire, was one of those items: Wal-Mart will offer free tax filing services to eligible taxpayers in its parking lots.
Just let that sink in for a minute.
In fairness, it sounds a little more odd than it is. Wal-Mart Foundation has teamed up with United Way and One Economy Corporation to launch a free mobile tax filing clinic. The clinic will be staffed by IRS VITA (volunteer income tax assistance) volunteers and will be set up in Wal-Mart parking lots and office for two to three weeks at a time between February 10 and April 11. To find a parking lot location near you, visit www.myfreetaxes.com.
Individual taxpayers earning less than $56,000 per year will be able to file their taxes free of charge. Specific emphasis will be on making the EIC (earned income credit) available to lower income families.
The Foundation estimates that it will save taxpayers nearly $45 million in tax preparation fees. Now that’s rolling back prices.
It’s also brilliant marketing. If taxpayers find out that they are getting a few dollars back on their income tax return this year, they might be inclined to, say, spend those dollars at Wal-Mart. Just saying.
For years, I was a site coordinator for the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program at our local senior center. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and highly recommend it to anyone seeking a volunteer opportunity.
VITA is a program that offer free tax preparation and/or assistance for low-to-moderate income individuals. The specific type of client served differs from site to site – at our site, we prepared returns for seniors whose incomes met certain criteria.
You don’t have to be a tax rock star to volunteer – there are lots of ways to help out. You can be a greeter, assist with intake and appointments (we had appointments at our site) or prepare returns. Training is available to assist with the preparation of returns – software and computers are also typically provided for your use. You can also help with publicizing existing programs (yes, bloggers, this means you).
I volunteered for many years with an outstanding gentleman named John Swift. John was not a tax professional – he was a retired engineer that got involved through Notre Dame’s alum program. While I might not be the biggest fan of Notre Dame football, I will say that their Philadelphia area alum program is terrific with many of the alums volunteering hours of their time week after week to help out with VITA. John really spearheaded the program at our site, hauling computers and portable printers to and from the site, and working hard at his own home to make sure that the right copies of the right forms got to the right people. He was a great spirit and devoted countless hours to VITA. He was also a dad and a granddad – he really focused on how fortunate he had been in his lifetime and endeavored to be of service to others. John passed away this year on Tax Day, which seems fitting. He was a great example of what it means to give back.
I hope you’ll consider following John’s example. It’s a great program that helps a lot of folks out. Each year, I would drag our interns and some associates down to the site to work on returns and meet the seniors. I think that they all learned a lot – not just about the quirky facets of the Tax Code – but also about working with others, serving clients and being professional.
I met a lot of wonderful volunteers and clients at VITA. My favorite client to this day remains the gentleman who told me, with a twinkle in his eye, that his occupation was “Spy.” And it was truly gratifying to have so many seniors clearly relieved to have their filings over with – many are scared to file because they don’t understand the forms and are worried that they will owe money. In fact, at our site, we were able to secure refunds for many seniors who had significant withholdings on meager pensions (don’t get me started on this).
If this sounds like something that might interest you, consider finding a local VITA program to work with next tax season. To locate the nearest VITA site, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.
If you are a private or public 501(c)(3) organization or state or local government agency, you might want to consider starting your own VITA site. IRS has made grants available this year for VITA participants. The IRS will award matching grants to extend services to underserved populations and hard-to-reach areas, both urban and non-urban. The grants will also be used to increase the capacity to file returns electronically and enhance training of volunteers at VITA sites.
The grant is a matching funds grant meaning that you have to offer funds to receive funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis. However, matching funds includes not only cash, but computer hardware and software and third-party, in-kind contributions.
I hope you’ll consider helping out.
(Hat Tip: Tax Prof Blog)
There are a number of programs that offer preparation and/or help, depending on your circumstances. If you earn less than $39,000, for example, you can use one of the more than 12,000 IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites. To find the site nearest you, call 1.800.829.1040.
If you are over the age of 60, you can get free help through the IRS Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Program. To locate the site nearest you, call 1.800.829.1040. You can also utilize the AARP partnership with IRS for the AARP Tax-Aide program by calling 1.888.227.7669 or searching the AARP site.
Some of the sites require appointments in advance, so it’s always a good idea to call ahead. On the day of your appointment, you’ll need to bring the following items:
- Photo ID
- Valid Social Security numbers for yourself, spouse and any dependents
- Birth dates for yourself, spouse and any dependents
- Tax forms received including forms W-2, W-2G, 1099-R, 1099-MISC, 1098, 1099-INT and 1099-DIV
- Your Social Security statement, if you received Social Security
- A copy of last year’s federal and state returns
- Banking information for direct deposit or electronic payment
- Detailed information for any expenses claimed, including mortgage, real estate taxes, child care and medical expenses
