Dear John,

Even though we’re deep into the heart (and heat) of summer, things are still moving fast and furious in the world of tax. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is the phrase of the month! Not to worry. The Taxpayer Opportunity Network (TON) and our partners are here to help guide you through the nuances and challenges associated with the CTC monthly payments, outreach and more.

Our national partners at United Way Worldwide, Commonwealth, the National Disability Institute (NDI), the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and others have developed resources that provide information and perspectives on the CTC changes and how they will impact your clients in the coming months. We encourage you to reference these resources, as they can be helpful as you field questions from past and potential clients about the CTC.

Meanwhile, Prosperity Now has been working hard behind the scenes on a virtual VITACon – so keep an eye out for more information on that in the next few weeks. We’re excited to bring people together as we prepare for the next filing season (tax season never ends!).

Please encourage your volunteers and partners to join TON so they can stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the community tax preparation field.

Happy Summer!

Rebecca M. Thompson, Director, Network Building

“With freedom comes responsibility.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt

Spotlight: Remembering a Friend

Our world suffered a great loss last month with the passing of our treasured friend, counselor, VITA champion and low-income advocate, Barbara DelBene. For years, Barbara generously shared her experience and expertise with the VITA field through her writing and by developing resources. If you have been around TON over the last few years, you’ve undoubtedly partaken of some of her skilled craftsmanship offered through the Tax Prep Dispatch, where she adeptly addressed many of the issues she witnessed first-hand as a VITA volunteer and provided witty, helpful suggestions on how we might provide the highest quality tax preparation service and deliver accurate returns to VITA clients. If you used VITA-Train, or any parts thereof, consider yourself a beneficiary of her wisdom and commitment to ensuring VITA volunteers have all the information and resources necessary to prepare accurate returns.

Barbara was a champion for the VITA program at large. But more specifically, she was always looking out and speaking up for “the little guy” – the smaller VITA partners with limited staff and financial resources, who nevertheless recognized the importance of VITA and shared a willingness and desire to serve their communities. Families were her other focus. She often voiced concern about the impact that tax law, IRS regulations and VITA procedures have on the low-income families we serve, and she worked diligently towards providing resources for VITA partners and volunteers to navigate the multitude of challenges that each tax season inevitably brings.

Take a few moments to refresh your memory with some of Barbara’s crafty writings dating back to The Q Word and the Tax Prep Dispatch.

We would like to honor Barbara’s memory and her commitment to quality, VITA and clients. If you have thoughts, ideas or suggestions, please share them with us and your peers on the Tax Roundtable Listserv.

Updates from the Network

GetYourRefund.org Volunteer Opportunity
GetYourRefund is looking for volunteers to mobilize a national effort for postseason filing. This effort, known as the National Tax Justice Service Team, needs your help. Join this effort today by filling out the interest form. Thank you for your help on this project; we’re excited to begin!

Help Wanted: TaxSlayer State Guide
GetYourRefund and Prosperity Now need your help to fill out a state tax guide. This quick guide can provide valuable information about your state and others in TaxSlayer, which can be especially useful on those tricky, out-of-state returns. If you need a frame of reference for completing your state’s section, you can use the existing Prosperity Now state income tax guide. We thank you for your help on this effort.

CTC & 211.org
Our partners at United Way Worldwide announced the release of more information on the Child Tax Credit (CTC) on 211.org. You can visit it via the link www.211.org/ctc

You’ll be able to access high-level information items perfect for clients and other stakeholders.

TaxTimeHub.org
TaxTimeCrisis.org is now TaxTimeHub.org. Check in to find messaging tools, takeaway messages and more on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). In addition, you’ll be able to use resources for both your organizations and partners as well as tax filers directly. You do not want to miss out!

Non-filer, Stimulus and CTC Outreach Resources from NDI
The National Disability Institute’s (NDI) Financial Financial Resilience Center launched their page to help guide tax filers around the Economic Impact Payments, Child Tax Credit (CTC) and and non-filer status portals. This page can help you navigate these new challenges and provide solutions to your partners, clients and other VITA stakeholders.

MomsRising Resource Toolkit
MomsRising published a bilingual (English and Spanish) toolkit surrounding the expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC). The toolkit includes sample tweets, graphics, video links and more. To find out more about their efforts, you can follow the link to their website.

CBPP Outreach Materials
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Get It Back Campaign has released a new Toolkit for Stimulus Check Outreach to Immigrant Families. It features a media guide, talking points, sample social media posts, flyers, a radio PSA script, text message and email. The toolkit is available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Vietnamese. In addition to families with immigrants, the toolkit can be used through the remainder of the year to connect with harder-to-reach populations such as families with no or low incomes, families with a member who is incarcerated, people who lack secure housing, people without Internet access and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) communities.

EIP Guide
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) updated its guide on the three Economic Impact Payments (EIP) in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog. This guide answers a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) based around the newest tax law information.

Second Stimulus Check FAQs
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Get It Back Campaign has resources on the second stimulus checks, stimulus eligibility for immigrants and what to do if someone didn’t get their first or second stimulus checks. Stay tuned for additional stimulus/Recovery Rebate Credit materials.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a blog on the Recovery Rebate Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) lookback and reasons to file. Be sure to pass this on to your partners!

RideShareTaxHelp RideSharetaxHelp.com is updated for the 2021 tax filing season. This project of the Get It Back Campaign and CASH Campaign of Maryland provides comprehensive guidance on tax filing for Uber and Lyft drivers. Tax info for food couriers will be added soon.

Unemployment Benefits and Taxes The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Get It Back Campaign has new resources to help people understand taxes and unemployment benefits: a guide to paying federal, state and local taxes on unemployment benefits and a guide to the 1099-G Form and how different states deliver it.

Knights of the Tax_Roundtable
Knights of the Tax Roundtable puts a face to the names you see on the Tax_Roundtable and brings answers to your burning tax hot topics.

Tools and Information for the Field

Updates from the IRS and SPEC

Non-filer Portal
The Treasury Department and the IRS have unveiled an online Non-filer Sign-up tool designed to help eligible families who don’t normally file tax returns register for the monthly Advance Child Tax Credit payments, which began on July 15. This tool is also designed to help eligible individuals who don’t normally file income tax returns register for the $1,400 third round of Economic Impact Payments (EIC) and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit for any amount of the first two rounds of EIC they may have missed.

Zip Code-level Data Now Available
The Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Analysis analyzed IRS data to identify the location of children who should be part of the expanded and newly-advanceable Child Tax Credit (CTC) but who had not been claimed on a recent tax return. The data can be used to help organizations focus their outreach efforts seeking to sign up non-filers for monthly CTC payments. This ZIP Code-level analysis is available here.

TaxSlayer Support Info

Please use the following information to create a support ticket with TaxSlayer this filing season:

Phone: 1-800-421-6346

Email: [email protected]

Support Hours (Beginning April 16):

Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET

Also, be sure to check out the TaxSlayer VITA/TCE Blog for important software updates.

IRS SPEC Partner Webcast Schedule 

Click here to get the full 2021 schedule for IRS SPEC Partner Webcasts to ensure that you stay up-to-date on the latest news and resources from IRS SPEC.

Link and Learn
The online certification and tax law curriculum from IRS SPEC is available for use by VITA/TCE volunteers. This Fact Sheet and Volunteer Tax Alert provide important information necessary for certification.

TaxSlayer Suggestion Box 

Do you have thoughts or ideas on how to improve TaxSlayer 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

Camp Prosperity
It’s back! Use these events to find out more about your organization’s advocacy readiness and how to bring your efforts to the forefront!

Mapping Influence: Understanding Who and How to Engage for Change
June 29: 2 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. ET (past event)
Successful Allyship in Grassroots Advocacy
July 13: 2 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. ET (past event)
Advocating for Equity-centered Policies
July 27: 2 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. ET

If you have ideas for future learning events, stories or resources, contact us at [email protected].

Recent Webinars and Events

The ARPA Opportunity Webinar
This webinar hosted by our partners at Commonwealth tackles some of the opportunities to come from the American Rescue Plan Act. Topics covered include the role of FinTech, financial security, and more!

Virtual Advocacy

Want to get started on virtual advocacy, but don’t know how to start? To find resources for effective advocacy at every level, visit our Prosperity Now Advocacy Toolkit.

How Tax Policy Can Help Low-Income Americans’ Pandemic Plight

February 26, 2021

In this episode of Tax Notes Talk, Rebecca Thompson of Prosperity Now, discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected low-income communities and families of color in the United States, and what tax policy tools could help them.

VITA Leadership Institute Year One Analysis

October 22, 2020
After a successful VITA Leadership Institute, we want you to join us in sharing our results and how we plan on moving forward! This is a can’t-miss event for newer programs wanting to get an inside look at all aspects of a great VITA program!

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!