Tax filing season is right around the corner. Outreach campaigns are underway, and some Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites across the nation will open their doors later this month. Attached is a sample article about EITC and free tax preparation for you to use in your next Grantee newsletter or weekly update.

The second Webinar in our EITC Series, this Webinar provided information on innovative EITC marketing and outreach strategies. Speakers from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provided a comprehensive overview of marketing materials available through the IRS’s Stakeholder, Partnerships, Education and Communication Office. Additionally, speakers from Oregon offered information on how to successfully market an EITC campaign through strategic messaging for employees and consumers and how to conduct direct outreach through community events.

This documentary is from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and tells the stories of people who have struggled to overcome the effects of having a poor credit score or no credit history. Poor credit scores can affect the ability to obtain credit cards, loans, rent or lease a house or apartment, and obtain student loans. Around 70 million people have poor credit scores or no credit history, and experts estimate that a good credit rating will save the average borrower $250,000 in interest over a lifetime. The purpose of this documentary is to raise awareness on credit reports and scores to help policymakers and stakeholders support individuals who find themselves in such situations.

Widely praised for its success in supporting work and reducing poverty, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has grown to be one of the most successful and universally acclaimed provisions of U.S. domestic policy. In fact, several expansions in the late 1980s and early 1990s turned the EITC into the largest Federal aid program targeted to the working poor. Due to the potential impact of the EITC to support families in poverty, the Welfare Peer TA Network conducted a Webinar Series beginning January 6, 2010 on the EITC to give state agencies strategies for setting up a local or statewide coalition and to provide participants with strategies for improving outreach and marketing to and participation of TANF participants in the EITC program.

Twenty-five percent of eligible families do not claim the EITC refund, and outreach to eligible families could help to claim nearly $6,000 in EITC refunds. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has published a Money Talks Tax Credit Outreach Kit.

This article is from the Urban Institute, and authors review the role of assets in supporting families in times of crisis, such as job loss or health problems. Assets can be an important safety net to help maintain family wellbeing during such times. Researchers find that all families, regardless of income, experience material hardship after a negative event. However, asset-poor families experience more hardship than non-asset-poor families.

The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network (WPTA) offered technical assistance to the Georgia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Asset-Building Planning Meeting with the primary purpose of bringing together EITC coalitions in the State of Georgia to talk about coming together with other organizations to form a cohesive statewide coalition of organizations and agencies. Welfare Peer TA brought together local EITC coalitions in the State of Georgia to brainstorm ideas about creating a statewide coalition, establishing a plan for the group, and developing initial plans for a broader meeting to be held in spring 2010 to kick-off the statewide group. The Coalition’s long term goal is to ultimately work together to implement initiatives in underserved areas.

This resource is from the Urban Institute, and researchers use data from the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances to analyze how families fare in times of economic and financial emergencies. Prior to the current recession, many families did not have resources to support them through unemployment or other financial times of struggle. In fact, one in three families was considered asset poor in 2007, and lower-income families are more vulnerable to financial emergencies.

The Tax Policy Center, which is a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, authored this fact sheet on tax policies designed to support working families with children. Specifically, the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit (CTC), Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), and the dependent exemption support families with children. In 2009, a single mom (or dad) with two children can receive benefits up to about $7,500 — depending on income, age of the children, and where the children live. Due to the benefits of such policies, supporting low-income families in understanding and applying for these tax supports is important.

From the First Nations Development Institute, with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this resource was developed to help tribal leaders build EITC campaigns in their communities. Authors provide an overview of the EITC, how the EITC can help support tribal communities and families, strategies that can be implemented to promote EITC uptake for this population, a timeline for EITC campaign implementation, and additional resources to support tribal leaders.