Earned Income Tax Credit

Overview

Program/Practice Name: Berrien County EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) Initiative

Agency Name: Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency

Contact Information: Lead Agency

Twyla E. Smith Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency 185 E. Main Street, Suite 303 Benton Harbor, MI 49022 Phone: (269) 925-9077 ext. 12 tsmith@smcaa.com www.smcaa.com

Rachel Wade United Way of Southwest Michigan 2015 Lakeview Avenue Saint Joseph, MI 49085 Phone: (269) 982-1700 ext. 20 rachel.wade@uwsm.org www.uwsm.org

www.michiganeic.org

Type of Program/Practice: The Berrien County EITC Initiative provides free tax preparation services and financial literacy to low- and moderate-income families in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren Counties.

Description

Program/Practice Description: The Berrien County EITC Initiative is part of a statewide anti-poverty initiative that urges low- and moderate-income Michigan residents to file for the federal EITC if they qualify. The initiative offers free tax preparation services to EITC-eligible residents. The initiative is heavily dependent upon volunteers to conduct the tax preparation activities. Site coordinators spend considerable time marketing the program and recruiting volunteers. In addition to tax preparation services, the Berrien County EITC Initiative promotes financial literacy as residents wait for their taxes to be prepared.

Innovations and Results: Money management and financial literacy are crucial to the Berrien County EITC Initiative. The goal is for residents to make better choices with their money that will lead to better financial security. While EITC eligible residents are waiting to file their taxes, a financial literacy video is played and brochures are available. Volunteers also discuss financial literacy with residents.

Funding: The Berrien County EITC Initiative is funded through grants (e.g., United Way, the State Community Services Block Grant-Tax) and in-kind donations.

Staffing: Site coordinators conduct the marketing for the EITC initiative, recruit and coordinate volunteers, and e-file the tax returns. The IT coordinator provides technical support for the computers and the network. The EITC initiative depends on volunteers; there are 10-15 volunteers who carry out the tax preparation and financial literacy activities. A trainer for the volunteers also completes tax returns at the site. Both the IT coordinator and trainer are volunteers.

Implementation

Tips to Implementation: To create an active coalition, have people who can run everyday activities. Success depends on the volunteers for without volunteers, there is no program. Quality is more important than quantity when recruiting volunteers.

Keys to Success:

• Finding high-quality, committed volunteers.
• Retaining volunteers from previous years.

Challenges: Recruiting volunteers is among the biggest challenges. The Berrien County EITC Initiative uses flyers, letters to churches and schools, visits to businesses, presentations, and word-of-mouth marketing to ensure information about the EITC initiative reaches the community and to help recruit volunteers. To retain volunteers from previous years, the Berrien County EITC Initiative shows appreciation for the volunteers' work by catering a dinner at the end of tax season and presenting volunteer awards.

Tools

The following tools are associated with Berrien County EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) Initiative. Please send us an email at upitoolkit@blhtech.com for more information about these tools.

Checklist for Filing

Describes what papers residents should bring to file taxes.

EITC PowerPoint

Training guide for volunteers.

EITC Volunteer Survey

Evaluation form designed to gain feedback from volunteers to improve the program and practices.

Intake Form

For collecting information from residents prior to tax preparation.

Managing Your Debts

Financial literacy brochure.

Marketing Letters

Sample letters to families, churches, employers, and schools to raise awareness about free tax preparation services for EITC eligible residents.

Marketing Timeline

Prepares coalitions for the tax season.

Memorandum of Understanding

Agreement for coalition members to sign indicating commitment to EITC program, what they are willing to provide, and when and how they will provide it.

Site Job Descriptions

Provides job descriptions for key personnel before, during, and after tax filing season; also includes recommended supply lists.

Site Procedures

Describes roles and responsibilities of reception, intake, tax preparer, and quality control.

Volunteer Letter

Sample letter to recruit volunteers for tax preparation.

Volunteer Timeline

Provides chronology for organizing an EITC volunteer program.

Overview

Program/Practice Name: Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Riverside County Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Program

Agency Name: A collaborative effort of the Riverside County Department of Public Social Service (DPSS), CAP of Riverside County, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Contact Information:

Kathrine Latta Program Manager, EITC/ IDA Programs Community Action Partnership of Riverside County 2038 Iowa Avenue, Suite B-102 Riverside, CA 92507 Phone: (951) 955-4900 Fax: (951) 955-6506 kelatta@capriverside.org

Type of Program/Practice: The program provides free tax preparation for low-income wage earners to inform them of EITC and Individual Development Account (IDA) benefits.

Description

<p><strong>Program/Practice Description:</strong> The Riverside EITC program is designed to develop an effective EITC outreach campaign to low-income families in Riverside County. The volunteer program provides free tax filing assistance to low-income taxpayers in order to promote work, family, and local economic development.</p> <p><strong>Background/Program History:</strong> The EITC program evolved when IRS statistics revealed there was $307.6 million of potential lost revenue to Riverside County in the 1999 filing season from filed returns that were eligible for the EITC but failed to claim it. At first, only six Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program sites were available to Riverside County, but after forming the partnership with DPSS, the program expanded to each of the 12 Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) offices. In the initial stages of the program, the IRS was able to provide training, computers, and printers to each of the GAIN staff members. After realizing the initial success of the program, DPSS transferred ownership of the program to CAP of Riverside County, whose operations were more clearly aligned with the interests of the program. Today, the program has evolved to being fairly independent of the IRS, as several CAP staff members serve as trainers for new volunteers.</p> <p><strong>Operations: </strong>To inform customers of the services available, the program mails thousands of informational flyers and DPSS displays posters in the lobby of every Riverside welfare-to-work office, along with handouts, additional IRS tax forms, publications, and booklets. The Riverside teams work together to ensure their messages are consistent throughout their programming. CAP staff make presentations at DPSS Job Clubs, train DPSS staff to promote the financial benefits of the EITC and IDA programs, and attend conferences with their partners. The CAP office plans to open additional sites and is working to establish consistent branding throughout Riverside County.</p> <p><strong>Innovations and Results:</strong> The EITC program's key innovation evolved from the initial partnership with the IRS and subsequent partnership with the CAP, leading to required expertise and a greater pool of resources for widespread outreach to low-income families. Through these partnerships, the Riverside County EITC Program is able to provide free income tax preparation services at all 12 welfare-to-work district offices throughout Riverside County, using approximately one staff person per office. This program has resulted in DPSS customers receiving over one half million dollars EITC for the 2002 tax year and over $1.1 million dollars EITC for the 2003 tax year. As program success continued from 2003 through 2005, the program catalyzed the issuance of $3.7 million of tax credits. Under the guidance of CAP, the program continues to bring in about $1 million in tax credits per year.</p>

Implementation

Tips to Implementation: Agencies interested in implementing a similar program should consider their technological capabilities, as Internet firewalls often can hinder the formation of partnerships. In addition, agencies should consider where the services will be located, ensuring appropriate space for foot traffic. Additionally, treat the program as a skilled volunteering opportunity so volunteers fully appreciate the significance of working with customers' money.

Keys to Success:

• By forming partnerships, a county can extend program reach beyond TANF and have an impact on helping low-income families achieve self-sufficiency.
• By partnering with CAP, DPSS was able to combine the EITC program with existing IDA programs to better help clients see the end results of their financial planning.
• By leveraging skilled volunteers, the program reaches a broad range of people without incurring significant costs. Also, the program is able to use returning volunteers to train new ones.

Tools

The following tools are associated with Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Riverside County Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Program. Please send us an email at upitoolkit@blhtech.com for more information about these tools.

Overview of Riverside County DPSS EITC Outreach Campaign

Outlines DPSS marketing approach.

CAP EITC Fact Sheet

Summary of program results over three years.

CAP EITC Program Volunteer Sign-up

Volunteer recruitment flyer.

CAP EITC Flyer

EITC advocacy brochure compares the cost of paid tax preparation to that of using free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site preparation.

CAP EITC Training Curriculum

Detailed training program overview, including all topics covered in the certification training.

CAP IDA Fact Sheet

Brief overview of IDA program successes.

CAP IDA Flyer

Marketing brochure used to recruit partners and participants.