HOPE Initiative Tax Sites

From the Martinsville Bulletin: "HOPE's Tax Assistance Adds Site" - The HOPE Initiative, a communitywide effort led by the United Way of Henry County & Martinsville, has expanded its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program with a tax site at the Liberty Fair Mall. The expansion was made possible through a grant from The Harvest Foundation.

"The VITA program is an essential part of the HOPE Initiative's focus," HOPE Coordinator Alicia Solomon said in a news release. "Through the work of volunteer income tax preparers who are IRS trained, we are able to help families and individuals with incomes of $40,000 or less keep more money in their pockets."

Through the VITA program, individuals and families can get their taxes prepared for free. VITA also works to promote the Earned Income Tax Credit for working families and discourage Refund Anticipation Loans, which reduce the amount of the return that people receive.

Read more...........

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 2:54 PM - Categories: Press Releases | VITA | Coalition Partners

IRS Update about Economic Stimulus Package

The IRS estimates that there are approximately 23.5 million taxpayers that may need to file a return who would otherwise not be required to file.  The IRS will me mailing motices to these potential Stimulus Filers during the month of March. 

There is a plan date of April 1st to begin accepting the Stimulus Return electronically, provided that the IRS can figure a non-invasive method to accept them.  This means that as of now, there is NO acceptable method for electronically filing these returns. TaxWise will continue to display a diagnostic error for returns that fall into this category. There is no reason to flood the IRS with returns that are going to get IRS rejected.

We have seen some customers add a $ amount to Taxable Interest of Line 21 to force the return to pass diagnostics. We strongly encourage you to advise your offices to NOT do this. At this point, we do not know if this will help or hurt the taxpayer. The IRS does not currently have any way of identifying the return as being filed solely for the purpose of receiving a stimulus check.

The IRS will be communicating regularly with the software developers in an effort to find the best and most efficient way to service this group of taxpayers. If you have to a taxpayer that cannot wait, your only course of action is to follow the IRS guidelines currently posted on IRS.gov and do a “paper” 1040A return with the words Stimulus written across the top of it.

Returns electronically filed with a bank product or with a Split Refund (Form 8888) will not be eligible for Direct Deposit. They will receive a paper check mailed to the address that was on the Main Info at the time the return was electronically filed.

The first wave of direct deposits will be released beginning the week of May 2nd. The IRS will be posting a release schedule of these payments. It will be based on the last four digits of a recipients SSN.

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 9:43 AM - Categories: Press Releases

Annie E. Casey Foundation - New Documentary DVD

Pursuit of the Dream: Cars & Jobs in America, produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, explains the importance of affordable, reliable transportation for building the economic success of low-income families.

Featuring the stories of three real-life families who struggled with the common pitfalls that low-wage workers often face when purchasing a car, the documentary shows how they overcame these obstacles and provides tips to avoid them. The documentary is provided in both English and Spanish, and a printed discussion guide is enclosed in each DVD package.

View the Documentary and learn more...

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 9:57 AM - Categories: Press Releases

Economic Stimulus Package Flyers From the IRS

Economic Stimulus payment flyers for SSA and VA recipients, in English and in Spanish, are now available for download. The Economic Stimulus Flyers are low resolution versions - designed for quick download, reading on-line, and making a few copies.

Visit the IRS website for more information.

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 9:52 AM - Categories: Press Releases

CFSI Grant Opportunity

Now through March 14, 2008, the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) is accepting proposals for its Nonprofit Opportunities Fund. CFSI seeks to support 4-6 pioneering, nonprofit organizations providing innovative financial services and asset-development opportunities that move underbanked consumers towards financial prosperity. Funded through a grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation, the grants will be the largest in both size and scope ever awarded by CFSI—a total of $1.25 million. The average grant size will be $200,000-$300,000.

Visit the Center for Financial Services Innovation to download the RFP and to learn more.....

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 11:51 AM - Categories: Press Releases | Funding Opportunities

ESP for Coalition Partners

At present, the IRS is unable to accept Stimulus Only returns from TaxWise online. Therefore, as you work at your sites, I suggest that you let people know who are there for only the Stimulus to come back in a month when the site is less crowded and you have taken care of the people required to file returns that have nothing to do with the stimulus.

I did that this week, and the client went away contented. If that won’t work, then you can designate one preparer to do STIMULUS paper returns. As the IRS develops plans, I have been forwarding the notes to you. They suggest using the standard paper form 1040A with STIMULUS PACKAGE (IN RED) at the top. You can do the return on TW, print it, and give it to the client to mail into the IRS. As long as your SIDN is on the form, you will get credit for the return. (The SIDN number goes where the Preparer’s SSN or PTIN goes. No other information is filled in on that section.) That does a couple of things: increases the number of returns (in case you are close to the 50-100 goal), but does not impact your TW online reports. It will not skew your data: decreases your EITC %, decreases AGI, increases total refunds, etc.

*****You must take care to not give advice on how much the STIMULUS will be, whether they will get it, etc. We cannot figure out how to calculate what they are getting. Our job is to get it printed and given back to them to mail in (at present, since we are not doing them electronically). There are many ins/outs that are still being worked out, and I’ll do my best to keep you appraised of developments.

This may also be a positive by bringing in folks who may have qualified for EITC, but haven’t been to a tax site in years. (Look on the bright side). If you normally take appointments to prepare returns, ask your screeners to ask more questions at the start to find out if they are only STIMULUS people. If they are STIMULUS, advise that they do not need an immediate appointment, only by April 15th. Early filing for STUMULUS does not get a quicker check. If we have to turn them away, tell them we are slower in April, better able to assist them, without a wait, etc.

If and when the IRS and TW get together and we can file the STIMULUS returns electronically, I am hoping there will be a field we can generate to distinguish between our regular group and the STIMULUS group.

Download the special 1040A for Stimulus...

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 11:36 AM - Categories: VITA

General Mills Accepting Applications for Hometown Helper Grant Program

Hamburger Helper, a General Mills company, has announced the call for entries to the 2008 "My Hometown Helper" grant program, a nationwide initiative designed to lend a "helping hand" to local groups making a difference in their community.

People looking to improve their hometown — from helping to fund a volunteer fire department, to restoring a town landmark, to supporting a local school — are encouraged to submit entries. Last year, the program gave away more than $200,000 in total grants and helped communities purchase new band equipment, build a school playground, and fund a tornado warning system, among other projects.

Posted by Carolyn Spohrer at 11:59 AM - Categories: Press Releases | Funding Opportunities