No images? Click here
Dear John,
I hope this month’s newsletter finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy as we walk through this pandemic together. If you’re anything like me, you’re receiving consistent news alerts regarding COVID-19 and its lasting impact on our communities. As we experience what can be an overwhelming news cycle, we may also experience challenges in navigating personal and professional transitions in this ever-evolving situation. Our team is humbled to have the opportunity to serve you by providing resources to help you reach and serve the most vulnerable people in your communities and transition through this crisis. Some of these resources are assembled below in our Spotlight! Thank you for your continued devotion to your community through these trying times!
Stay Safe! Wash Your Hands!
Rebecca M. Thompson, Project Director, Taxpayer Opportunity Network
“A mother is clothed with strength and dignity, laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks her words are wise and she gives instructions with kindness.”
—Proverbs
Spotlight: Resetting the Filing Season!
May flowers typically signal the end of the filing season. But this has been no ordinary filing season. With the ever-deepening impact of COVID-19 on communities; the use of the tax system to disburse Economic Impact Payments; and the disruption of VITA services across the country; this extended filing season really feels like two seasons in one. While we pause for a breath as we prepare to dive back into the filing season, let’s take a moment to reset and recap the resources that have been shared thus far and what you can expect going forward.
Current resources:
- Alternative Tax Prep Options Page – this webpage hosts a collection of resources on drop-off, virtual VITA, and FSA.
- TON COVID-19 Listening Session – this listening session at the end of last month covered some of the newest resources and answered some of your questions on transitioning your service delivery model amid this crisis.
- Prosperity Now COVID-19 Resource Page – this webpage hosts resources from a variety of sources to tackle the latest COVID-19 challenges across the Prosperity Now field.
- Tax Prep Dispatch – this regular mailing covers some of the most pressing topics in the tax preparation field with a peer-to-peer focus
What to Expect:
- New integrations for alternative service delivery – Prosperity Now is working with our national partners to continue pursuing improvements and capacity building for programs transitioning to implement alternative service delivery methods.
- Continuing messaging – if you want to stay in the loop, be sure to sign up for the Tax Roundtable listserv and keep an eye on your email for the latest Taxpayer Opportunity Network mailings.
Updates from the Network
COVID-19 Resource Pages
Check out these resource pages from our partners at the CFPB and the Get It Back Campaign! You'll find some of the most commonly asked questions around COVID-19, EIP, and some messaging templates for you and your clients.
Census Update:
There’s still time to take the Census! With the outbreak of COVID-19, you can help direct your clients to take the Census online here. In addition, you can view the toolkit created by Community Action Partnership on the merger of VITA and the Census.
Tools and Information for the Field
Updates from the IRS and SPEC
The VITA Grant Application is Open!
The VITA/TCE Grant Application is now open. It closes June 1. Thanks to your advocacy efforts, there’s $25M available in VITA grant funding. (That’s $10M more than in the last grant cycle!) If you weren’t one of the 228 grantees in the last go around, or if you could have used more support to help more LMI families in your community, this is a great opportunity.
- You can find the link to the application here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html?keywords=VITA
- And the application instructions here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4671.pdf
- The SPEC Program Office is hosting a webcast on Friday May 15th at 1:00pm. To participate in that event, all individuals must register using the following link: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1104/34626
Breaking IRS Updates
To stay informed on the most recent IRS updates on the COVID-19 outbreak and the associated Economic Impact Payments, you can go directly to their tax relief page!
IRS SPEC Partner Webcast Schedule
Click here to get the full 2020 schedule for IRS SPEC Partner Webcasts to ensure that you stay up-to-date on the latest news and resources from IRS SPEC.
Do you have thoughts or ideas on how TaxSlayer could be improved to help you run your sites more efficiently and make it easier to prepare and file more quality returns? Share them in the VITA/TCE Suggestion Box. Your feedback is needed for both federal and state returns, as well as reports.
Learning Opportunities
Upcoming Learning Opportunities
Lunch and Learn: the VITA Grant and You!
May 20 & May 21
Come join our one or both of our Lunch and Learn webinar duo around the VITA grant. We’ll share some tips and tools to securing the grant as well as ways that your peers have secured grant funding! Come join the unique peer-facilitated discussion on the VITA grant!
If you have ideas for future learning events, stories or resources, contact us at [email protected].
Recent Webinars and Events
TON COVID-19 Listening Session
April 28, 2020
We’ve broken down the most impactful resources from our national partners around COVID-19 as well as the new GetYourRefund.org virtual VITA pilot.
Evaluating Tax Time Savings Behaviors
Have you ever wondered what tax time savings and behaviors look like on the national scale? Well, wonder no more because the Taxpayer Opportunity Network is here to provide you with the answers!
Latest Tax Prep Dispatch
Non-Filers 101
April 15, 2020
Alternative Service Delivery Tips!
April 6, 2020
Signed, Sealed, Delivered?
March 30, 2020
The Drop-Off Process
March 19, 2020
COVID-19 and VITA
March 13, 2020
