$500 million in refunds
TaxWise Twists and Turns teleconference
IRS VITA Hotline Hours of Operation
Family Economic Success
Recruiting Spanish-speaking tax preparers
Program Profile: Food and Taxes
Affiliates in the news
Advocacy update: minimum wage bill
Calendar
New resources

$500 million in refunds

According to our National Program Survey of 2006 tax season data, 81 Coalition affiliates alone were responsible for returning over $500 million in tax refunds to their clients. These programs completed over 300,000 federal returns, and accounted for more than $180 million in EITC.

Good luck with the tax filing season now underway!

TaxWise Twists and Turns teleconference

This is an opportunity for free tax preparation programs to hear an overview of the TaxWise software for the 2007 filing season. Joining the call are representatives from TaxWise and Internal Revenue Service who will address questions and concerns highlighted by the field.

To participate in this call, please complete the survey and list any questions related to the software that you would improve your tax site operations. This survey will remain open until Tuesday, February 6, 2007. All questions will be forwarded to the IRS and TaxWise so they can prepare their presentation.

Conference Call Information:
Phone Number: (866) 606-4717
Access Code: 7047693#

Date: Friday, February 9, 2007
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 (Eastern); 12:00 - 1:00 (Central); 11:00 - 12:00 (Mountain); 10:00 - 11:00 (Pacific)

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IRS VITA Hotline Hours of Operation 1-800-829-VITA (8482)
Call Center Location	Dates	Days	Hours
Dallas	January 16 – April 16	Monday – Friday	7:00 AM – 12:00 AM Central Time
Jacksonsville	January 16 – April 16	Monday – Friday	6:00 AM – 7:30 PM Central Time
Dallas, Jacksonville, Portland and/or St. Louis (see below)	January 27 - April 14	Saturday only	9:00 AM  - 5:00 PM Central Time

The dates and sites for Saturday schedules are listed below:

• Dallas 2/3, 3/3, 3/31, 4/7, 4/14
• Jacksonville 1/27, 2/24, 3/24, 4/7, 4/14
• Portland 2/17 and 3/17
• St. Louis 2/10 and 3/10

Family Economic Success

One of the National League of Cities' newsletters highlights important learning opportunities and new publications on four main topic areas related to family economic success. The topics include:

• Promoting the Earned Income Tax Credit;
• Conducting multi-benefit outreach, including benefits such as food stamps and free or low-cost health insurance;
• Supporting transitional jobs for individuals with barriers to employment; and
• Helping families build and protect assets.

Download and read the latest newsletter.

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Recruiting Spanish-speaking tax preparers

Many tax offices advertise that they are looking to train tax preparers. In Latin America, tax preparation is a very negative thing. There are no refunds and you will be jailed if you owe money. It is better to advertise for bilingual customer service employees and then explain the positives about tax preparation in the U.S.

If you are ready to recruit Hispanics, ask yourself “where do Hispanics eat, play, gather, and shop in my area?” The answers will give you a place to begin.

This advice comes from Blaire Borthayre, who recently presented a webinar for the Coalition on Tax Preparation and the Hispanic Immigrant. She offers free resources to sites that do free ITINs and tax preparation. www.trainingresourceclinic.com.

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Food and Taxes

FoodChange runs three of the five largest volunteer tax-preparation sites in the country. Since inception, FoodChange has been responsible for $218m in refunds to working families in New York city. In the 2006 tax filing season, they completed over 44,000 returns and $81 million in refunds, making them the biggest EITC program in the National Community Tax Coalition. Read the full story.

 

 

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National EITC Day

Watch video of the press conference featuring DC Cash Coalition and United Way of America along with IRS Commissioner Everson, Treasury Secretary Paulson, and Treasurer Cabral.

Refund anticipation loans costly

An article on the costs of Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) was the vehicle for the Cuyahoga EITC Coalition to publicize its services, with centralized information available through United Way’s 211 phone service. Read the story in the Plain Dealer.

Illinois Lt. Governor visits site

On January 26 at their Loop Tax Site, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn joined the Center for Economic Progress in urging working Illinois families to use the Center’s free tax prep services -- and receive the tax credits they have earned. A taxpayer client who had been served the previous day showed up and offered his testimonial about the importance of the tax services! Watch the video clip from Fox News or view a photo of the event.

Pitfalls of a Tax Day Loan

January 16, 2007 - The non-profit Campaign for Working Families put H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt to the test using an undercover volunteer named Tanya, and Action News sent a camera along.

Thus began the 11pm news story from TV station WPVI in Philadelphia. Philadelphia's Campaign for Working Families teamed with 6abc to go undercover, expose problems with pay stub loans, and promote free tax preparation.

The story also ran in the Philadelphia Daily News under the headline Don’t Borrow Trouble, in the Philadelphia Tribune, and the Philadelphia Inquirer under the headline A Costlier Twist on Tax Loans.

Costly Twist on Tax Refund Loan is Called a Bad Deal

This story in the Personal Finance section of Los Angeles Times quotes Joanna Smith-Ramani from the Baltimore CASH Campaign and Jean Anne Fox of the Consumer Federation of America.

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Minimum Wage Bill

The U.S. Senate has taken up the bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. The following are amendments pertaining to the Earned Income Tax Credit that were proposed to the Senate Minimum Wage Increase bill, S. 2:

1. Amendment 169

Proposed by Sen. Allard (R-CO)

Effect: The amendment would allow the sharing of social security data among government agencies for immigration enforcement purposes.

Actions: We circulated an urgent action alert to oppose this amendment that would compel the IRS to share information with DHS about reported earnings on non-work authorized SSNs and multiple people using the same SSN and thereby, erode taxpayer confidentially. Read the full position paper.

Update:This amendment has been dropped. Thank you to all those called their Senators to oppose this amendment!

2. Amendment 107:
Proposed by Sen. Sessions (R-AL)

Effect: Encourage greater use of the Advanced EITC by imposing additional requirements

Update: This amendment has been dropped.

3. Amendment 108
Proposed by Sen. Sessions (R-AL)

Effect: Authorize the Treasury to study the costs and barriers to businesses if Advanced EITC is expanded to all eligible taxpayers

Update: This amendment was passed.

The minimum wage bill passed 94-3 in the Senate, where an $8.3 billion tax package was added to benefit small businesses. The bill would provide a five year extension on a tax credit for businesses that hire the disadvantaged, and provide expensing and depreciation advantages to small firms. The funding to cover the tax breaks comes from closing loopholes on offshore tax shelters, capping deferred compensation payments to corporate executives and removing the deductibility of punitive damage payments and fines.

The Senate also approved an amendment that would bar companies that hire illegal immigrants from obtaining federal contracts, to encourage companies to participate in an employee identification program that can weed out undocumented workers.

 

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February

Friday, February 9. TaxWise Twists and Turns  teleconference. This NCTC call is an opportunity for free tax preparation programs to hear an overview of the TaxWise software for the 2007 filing season. Additionally, Universal Tax Systems and Internal Revenue Service experts will address questions and concerns highlighted by the field. To register, complete this survey.

Tuesday February 27  - Thursday March 1, Expanding Native Opportunity: Native IDA Initiative training presented by First Nations Development Institute, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, and CFED, in Denver, Colorado. Applications accepted until January 12, 2007. Download an application from www.cfed.org/go/nida.

Tuesday March 27 - Thursday 29, Expanding Native Opportunity: Native IDA Initiative training presented by First Nations Development Institute, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, and CFED, in Washington, DC. Applications accepted until February 9, 2007. Download an application from www.cfed.org/go/nida.

October

October 1-2 NCTC National Conference in Denver

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Marketing the EITC

EITC Partner Toolkit
Resources provided by the IRS to help VITA programs with their marketing. Includes fact sheets, sample press releases, tips and customizable tools for marketing and promotion.

EITC Marketing Express
An IRS service allowing VITA programs to create customized EITC marketing products With this free online tool, you can create professional caliber products with the same graphics and messages used in the IRS' national EITC marketing campaign. You can add your own location information and personal message to public service ads, flyers and brochures. [posted 1/22/07]

EITC Employer Tookit
A collection of tools for employers to use in educating their employees about the EITC, Child Tax Credit, benefits and tax credits. Provided by Corporate Voices for Working Families. [posted 1/16/07]

Managing a tax site

Client Intake Sheet 2007-Spanish
This form is designed to collect vital information and to determine if the taxpayer meets the eligibility requirements to receive free tax preparation services and other complimentary services offered at the tax site. The NCTC Intake Sheet has been formally approved by SPEC's national headquarters in Atlanta when used in conjunction with the TaxWise software. If you are using other tax preparation software you should not use this intake sheet.[PDF, 200KB, posted 1/24/07]

Materials from the IRS

Volunteer Quality Alert 2007-01 - Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement
Every entry on Form W-2 is critical in completing an accurate return. Look at all information provided on the Form W-2. When preparing a tax return electronically – KEY WHAT YOU SEE! [DOC, KB, posted 1/26/07]

EITC Marketing Products for 2007
Publication 4559 highlights the series of EITC-related marketing products from the IRS. [PDF, 4MB, posted 01/24/07]

VITA Hotline Hours
List of hours the IRS VITA hotline is open for 2007 at different locations. [DOC, 31KB, posted 01/24/07]

Telephone Excise Tax Refund

Flyer directed to taxpayers
Flyer informing taxpayers about the Telephone Excise Tax refund, in English and Spanish. Provided by the IRS. [PDF, 200KB, posted 1/26/07]

IRS Toolkit
An IRS website with materials about and communication tools for the Telephone Excise Tax refund. [posted 1/24/07]

 

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