The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that it has extended the deadline for accepting applications for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grant programs to June 17, 2022.
Deadline for TCE and VITA Tax Preparer Grants is June 17
The two programs are part of the IRS’ partnerships with organizations across the country to help the elderly and underserved communities get free tax filing services. The grants are available to community partner organizations that include non-profit agencies, faith-based organizations, and community centers. In addition, the IRS provides tax law training, certification, and oversight to equip these organizations to prepare accurate returns.
The IRS’s Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) grant program was established in 1978 to provide tax counseling and return offers grants to eligible organizations that offer free tax help to individuals 60 years old or older. The funds also provide training and technical assistance to the volunteers who provide free federal income tax assistance to the elderly and also reimburse volunteers for their out-of-pocket expenses; including transportation, meals, and other expenses incurred by them in providing tax counseling assistance to taxpayers.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is a federal grant program that helps community organizations provide free tax-prep services to low- and moderate-income individuals, the disabled, the elderly, and limited-English speakers. Through it, taxpayers can get face-to-face help from local, IRS-certified volunteers. The program offers free tax help to people who generally make $54,000 or less in community and neighborhood centers, libraries, schools, shopping malls, and other convenient locations.
The two programs offer volunteer training that helps prevent the IRS from performing additional verification and reduces the time taxpayers spend to get tax filing mistakes corrected.
How to be eligible
To be eligible for funding under the VITA Grant Program, applicants must be either private or public non-profit organization that meet the following requirements:
- Be tax compliant with federal tax and information reporting requirements
- Be able to provide matching funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis for all VITA funds awarded
- Be eligible to receive federal financial assistance
- Have an audit completed when required by 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart F – Audit Requirements
- Fall required reports timely if a previous VITA or TCE grant recipient Eligible Organization.
Last year the IRS awarded 34 TCE grantees $11 million and 300 VITA grantees $25 million to help file nearly 1.6 million tax returns at no cost nationwide.
Where you can get Tax filling support
Filing taxes may seem difficult but choosing a way to file doesn’t have to be. You can hire a tax preparer or opt for the several free tax filing options available, both in-person and online. Besides accepting tax filling through mail and tax preparers, the IRS also offers free filling software where taxpayers can file electronically.
The IRS encourages e-filling as the tax software does the calculations, flags common errors, and reduces tax return errors by prompting taxpayers for missing information. Small businesses that find filling taxes overwhelming can solicit the support of small business tax services. These can help you do your taxes by offering bookkeeping, payroll, and tax solutions to help your business stay on top of your accounting processes.
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