Taxpayer Opportunity Network Newsletter: January 2023

No images? Click here [link removed]

Special Announcement: Celebrating $40M in Funding for VITA in FY2023

John, Happy New (Tax) Year! We’re kicking off the year with exciting news: the omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2023 [[link removed]] included $40M for VITA! Congratulations to YOU, as TON members—what an amazing achievement. In a very short span of time and in an incredibly difficult political environment, we went from $12M in 2016 to $15M to $18M to $25M to $30M…and now to $40M in 2023! We're proud to celebrate this accomplishment alongside TON, our VITA field, national partner United Way Worldwide, and our advocates across the nation. Just WOW. Let’s keep building!

This month’s edition of the TON Newsletter is jam-packed with tax season resources, upcoming opportunities and other exciting announcements. Read on for more!

Breaking News: IRS announces the opening of E-file – Monday, January 23rd [[link removed]]

Spotlight

Tax Season Kickoff with TON

Tax filing season is here, and we are working hard to bring you the resources you need for the 2023 filing season. First up: our annual Tax Season Kickoff Webinar [[link removed]], which we plan to hold on Monday, January 30th at 2pm EST, so look out for the invite and registration link in your inboxes soon! This “Ask me Anything” event will feature personnel from SPEC, Prosperity Now, Low-Income Tax Clinics, and expert VITA providers from our TON National Steering Committee who will be available to answer your questions about the VITA/TCE program, running a VITA/TCE site, tax law and whatever else you need to know as the 2023 filing season gets underway!

Register Here [[link removed]]

EITC Awareness Day

On January 27, we will celebrate Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Day. Stay tuned for our digital toolkit featuring guidance for taxpayers, sample posts for social media, shareable images, tools for practitioners, and more to help you promote this valuable credit in your community. TON members will receive the toolkit and more information via email and on Prosperity Now’s Twitter [[link removed]] and LinkedIn, [[link removed]] so follow us to stay up to date!

Updates from the Network

VITA-Train has successfully left the station once again 🚂

In November, Prosperity Now launched VITA-Train 2022 [[link removed]] to help VITA volunteers prepare for filing season. The VITA-Train is a free modular training program that prepares VITA volunteers to obtain the Basic and Advanced Level certifications, featuring a specific module for returning volunteers. Please utilize the VITA-Train resources by clicking below.

Announcing VITA-Train in Spanish!

We are also proud to announce that VITA-Train 2022 has now been translated into Spanish! Click here to access this helpful service in Spanish [[link removed]].

VITACon 2023

We are thrilled to announce that VITACon 2023 is coming to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this September. Prosperity Now is planning this biannual event in partnership with Just Harvest [[link removed]] and the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania [[link removed]] and will bring together community tax preparation leaders from across the country to learn more about VITA, promote promising practices and build relationships among VITA practitioners, advocates, tax industry leaders, and other stakeholders. Stay tuned for the official announcement with confirmed dates and more details.

Upcoming Reports from Prosperity Now

Later this month and into February, we will be releasing a series of reports surrounding our VITA work in 2022. These reports detail our work with several organizations as we experimented with pairing VITA services with emergency savings, as well as increasing outreach to first-time and lapsed filers. Additionally, we are releasing a Refund Anticipation Loan paper, in which we explore implementing a refund anticipation loan for VITA service providers. Stay tuned for more information!

Tools and Information for the FieldResources from the Network

Virtual Advocacy Toolkit | Prosperity Now

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

TON Tips and Tricks Form

Got a great idea? Share it with us using the TON Tips and Tricks form [[link removed]]. This short form can help us share ideas with our peers in the VITA field at large. These tips can be big or small, on topics ranging from volunteer management to quality review. We’re excited to hear from you!

Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Tax Time Resources

Social Media/Written Messaging Tools

Click here [[link removed]] to access information on free filing options. Available in both English and Spanish

To adapt text for a blog post on free filing options, click here [[link removed]]

Use CFPB’s social media messaging calendar [[link removed]] to help communicate with consumers during tax filing season!

Videos from CFPB

A 2-minute video for service providers [[link removed]] on free filing options and outreach

Tax Time Minute on Tax Prep in Your Community [[link removed]] and Tax Time Minute on Online Tax Prep [[link removed]] can be used to share information directly with consumers!

Upcoming Webinars with CFPB

Webinar: Resources for Free Tax Assistance Providers [[link removed]] | Thursday, January 19, 2023, 1:00-2:00 Eastern. As tax season ramps up, hear about a wide array of resources that can support and enrich the work of VITA and Tax-Aid programs, including a) tax time planning, outreach and marketing tools, b) operational tools, c) ways to connect to other tax prep programs, and more. Register here. [[link removed]]

Webinar: Free Tax Assistance for Lower Income Taxpayers [[link removed]] | Tuesday, January 24, 2023, 1:00-2:00 Eastern. This webinar is designed for frontline service providers and program managers that want to know more about free filing options that use IRS-certified tax preparers. The webinar will highlight ways to encourage consumers to access those services and keep more of their money at tax time. Register here. [[link removed]]

Webinar: Expert Panel on Free Tax Assistance for Lower Income Taxpayers [[link removed]] | Thursday, January 26, 2023, 1:00-2:00 Eastern. Featuring leaders in the field, this follow-up to the webinar will dig deeper into community-based and online options for free tax preparation by IRS-certified volunteers. Register here. [[link removed]]

Resources from IRS/SPEC and TaxSlayer

IRS/SPEC: What’s New?

Click here [[link removed]] to learn from the IRS about what is new with tax filing in 2023.

The IRS is Hiring!

Click here [[link removed]] to find out about hiring events and open positions available with the IRS!

Upcoming IRS SPEC Partner Webcasts

IRS SPEC hosts regular Partner Webcasts that are meant to ensure that you feel confident during filing season. The next webcast is on Feb. 7, 2023, from 1:00pm-2:30pm. For more information about this event and to obtain the full 2023 schedule, please contact your local SPEC Relationship Manager.

Important VITA/TCE Blog Posts

2022 PRACTICE LAB: WHAT WE KNOW – UPDATED 1/9/2023 [[link removed]]

STATUS OF ORDERS AND IMPORTANT DATES [[link removed]]

Review and bookmark the TaxSlayer VITA/TCE Blog [[link removed]] for more important updates thought the year!

TaxSlayer VITA/TCE Customer Support Information

Phone: 1-800-421-634

Email: [email protected]  [mailto:[email protected]]

Note: This is the first place to go with software questions or to report software issues!

TaxSlayer Suggestion Box

Share your thoughts or ideas on how TaxSlayer could be improved using the VITA/TCE [[link removed]]Suggestion Box. Your feedback is needed for both federal and state returns, as well as reporting.

Network Events and

OpportunitiesUpcoming Events

Webinar: 2023 Tax Season Kick-Off [[link removed]] | Prosperity Now | Monday, January 30. 2023

Tax filing season is here, and we are working hard to bring you the resources and support needed to promote success and efficiency for the 2023 tax season! The Tax Opportunity Network will be holding our annual “Tax Season Kick Off” on Monday, January 30, 2023, at 2:00 pm EST.

Webinar Recording: VITA Offseason Prep: 2022 Tax Law Updates [[link removed]] | Prosperity Now | Recorded December 8, 2022

Click here [[link removed]] to watch the recording of Prosperity Now’s 2022 Tax Law Updates Webinar hosted by TON members Brad Martin and Marshall J. Hunt, which provides tax law updates and highlights, specifically those that will impact VITA sites moving forward.

Webinar: All You Need to Know About the Child Tax Credit and Other Credits This Tax Season [[link removed]] | Thursday, January 19, 2023.

Join the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Code for America, Coalition on Human Needs, Partnership for America's Children & Prosperity Now for a webinar on how families who have yet to claim the 2021 expanded CTC can still do so and how to help them, as well as information on other important tax credits such as the EITC for the 2022 tax filing season. This webinar will be offered in English and Spanish.

VITA/TCE Jobs Bank

Community Tax Aid DC has several openings for seasonal positions from mid-January to late April:

Quality Reviewer [[link removed]]. Seasonal, part-time, 3 to 30 hours a week.

Times: Evenings 5:30-9:30pm; Saturdays, Sunday afternoons

Locations: various in DC and Maryland (Oxon Hill, Rockville, Wheaton, DC)

Efile Coordinator-UPO [[link removed]]. Seasonal, 10-30 hours a week.

Location: Anacostia DC

Times: flexible weekday and some weekday evenings

Site Coordinator [[link removed]].  Seasonal, part-time, 15 to 30 hours a week.

Times: Evenings 5:30-9:30pm; Saturdays, Sunday afternoons

Locations: various in DC

Site Assistant- MLK [[link removed]]. Seasonal, part-time 5-30 hours a week.

Times: Evenings 5:00-9:30pm; Saturdays, Sunday afternoons

Location: downtown DC

Site Assistant- Jubilee [[link removed]]. Seasonal, part-time 5-20 hours a week.

Times: Evenings 5:00-9:30pm; Saturday morning

Location: Adams Morgan, DC

Contact [[email protected]], for more details.

1200 G Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC xxxxxx

HOME [[link removed]] | BLOG [[link removed]] | ABOUT [[link removed]] | DONATE [[link removed]]

Copyright © 2023, Prosperity Now, All rights reserved.

Unsubscribe [link removed]