VITA Volunteer Newsletter

Week of March 4th, 2022

Your weekly resource for tax tips, important dates, and other news of note

from the VITA staff!

Tax Updates

Another week in the books! In addition to everyone's ongoing work at sites and in the Hub, we are happy to report that our pilot DIY Workshops launched last week and went well. While still small, we were able to help a handful of people learn how to use TaxSlayer and file their own taxes at a computer lab in the Kino Center. A few more workshops will be held this year; taxpayers can find sign-up info on the VITA webpage: https://unitedwaytucson.org/vita/

Some notes for this week...

All Intake volunteers, remote Tax Preparers, and Site Coordinators, PLEASE READ:

By now, many of you have noticed that in GYR, the Organization of a return automatically changes to United Way of Tucson as soon as someone assigns themselves to the return. As we shared last week, this is a GYR glitch. We have alerted them to it and hopefully it will get fixed soon. Much thanks to the volunteers who helped us identify this glitch!
Until then, please make sure the return is prepared under the correct TaxSlayer login for the original Organization. If you forget the original Org, you can check the Valet VITA Questionnaire in the Documents section, which should show the Organization of origin. Also, note that you can change the Organization back to the original Organization in the Hub.
For all newly incoming returns, we will start adding the Organization to the name of the taxpayer so that it remains visible at all times. For example, John Smith -> John Smith NPC Hopi. (We used a similar edit last year to note returns that were RRC). Volunteers can use the “edit” button on the Client Profile tab to change the client and add the site abbreviation to the name.
Intake Volunteers: As you are scanning returns to the Hub, please ADD the name of your site to the name of the taxpayer. This is very important to make sure that the returns are prepared under your organizational label!

EITC Lookback

It’s very important that preparers and quality reviewers consider whether a client may benefit from the EITC “Look Back” option that is provided this year. It allows for a taxpayer’s 2019 earned income to be used in the 2021 EITC calculation if it is higher than the current year’s earned income and its use benefits the taxpayer. Note this same provision existed last year, for 2020 tax returns.
Jerry Ershun helped us put together a helpful cheat sheet for considering Look Back. Find it here: EITC Look Back Check
Volunteers using this method have already seen it help multiple clients obtain significantly higher refunds! Please include it in your preparation and review process.

Bitcoin Update

We have heard from a few taxpayers with bitcoin transactions. Note that a return with bitcoin transactions is out-of-scope (including sales, exchanges, transfers).
VITA can ONLY work on a bitcoin return if the bitcoin purchases were made with real currency. We updated the note about this on page 13 of the Volunteer Handbook (find it on VITALinks).

Logging Hours

The VITA program relies on funding from the IRS, which is directly related to the number of service hours provided by all VITA volunteers.
Please make sure that you log ALL your volunteer hours either in the Volunteer Log available at all physical VITA sites or, for volunteers working remotely, using this link: https://forms.office.com/r/dg0XcRynNw
The information collected through this form will be used to document those hours. Thank you for helping us maximize VITA funding by capturing everyone’s service hours accurately!

Equipment Support

Struggling to view tax documents, the Hub, and other windows all on one computer screen? United Way has plenty of additional monitors available to make virtual tax prep a little easier on your eyes!
Check out our equipment rental form to learn about what is available - we are happy to offer a few tools to help your prep-from-home process be a little smoother: https://forms.office.com/r/dBceGyWERV

Volunteer Resources

VITALinks has long been our primary webpage for volunteer tax resources - it's your one-stop reference for tax preparation guides and tools. Resources will be added to VITALinks as the tax season gets going - check out the following links in the meantime:

- VITALinks: https://unitedwaytucson.org/vita/links/
- 4012 - VITA/TCE Resource Guide for 2021 Returns (digital copy)
- 6744 - Volunteer Assistor's Test/Retest for 2021 Returns (digital copy)
- 4491 - Volunteer Training Guide for 2021 (digital copy)

VITA Promotion

United Way staff continue to spread the word about VITA to the community. In the past few weeks, that effort has included presentations to donor partners, home visitors working with families of young children, and about 30 nonprofit partners engaged in case management and financial education across Southern Arizona. Here are a few key messages we have been sharing to highlight the importance of VITA this year:

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It’s tax season again, and this year, filing is especially important: the American Rescue Plan expanded eligibility and maximum amounts for certain tax credits, including the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). For families with children, the 2021 CTC is $3,000-$3,600. And this year, for the first time, the EITC can be worth up to $1,500 for some workers without children – nearly triple the amount it was in 2020. (You can learn more about changes to CTC and EITC, including eligibility, on the ChildTaxCredit.gov page.)

People with incomes below the filing requirement amount may not think it’s worth it to file their taxes. However, not filing means they could be missing out on CTC and EITC. For example:

Families without any income at all can qualify for CTC payments. And even if they have received advanced CTC payments (the monthly payments that came at the end of 2021), the only way to receive the entire CTC amount they are eligible for is to file.
Another example: if people have any earned income at all – even $1 – that income qualifies them for consideration for EITC.

So even if someone is not required to file, it is definitely recommended that they do so – filing ensures that they receive those CTC and EITC credits (plus any others!) if they qualify.

Our VITA webpage includes full information about necessary documents, FAQs, and how to book an appointment. You can also find information about workshops, pop-up Valet sites with Pima County, and location information there. That page will be updated with the most accurate information (particularly amid COVID-19 changes).

Learn more about VITA options for 2022, including in-person locations and how to book an appointment: 2022 VITA Webpage

Help spread the word: Access the electronic version of the 2022 VITA Flyer

United Way of Tucson Updates

United Way of Tucson is working to build a thriving community by uniting people, ideas, and resources. We envision a community where every child receives a high-quality education from birth to career, every adult has the opportunity to thrive financially and in the workplace and every older person can retire and age with dignity and independence. From birth to career, career to retirement, and retirement to end of life, United Way supports the well-being and success of every person in Southern Arizona.

Research and Best Practices: Saving Initiatives

As we shift toward pandemic recovery, it's more important than ever to help people access opportunities to start building and rebuilding savings. According to data from FINRA, even before COVID-19, LMI households in Arizona were half as likely to have an emergency savings fund or retirement plan as the higher income households. Our Financial Wellness department is working to make sure local partners have the resources they need to help people start and continue saving.

America Saves recently held their annual event, America Saves Week, providing families and individuals an opportunity to evaluate their budgets and develop new savings goals. Additionally, Asset Funders Network recently released Child Savings Accounts: A Core Point of the Equity Agenda, a briefing on the growing network of CSA programs across the country. The report includes a variety of potential benefits that a CSA program provides to a community such as improved early childhood development, better physical and mental health for children and caregivers, improved academic performance, and more. It also describes the key aspects of designing and implementing an equitable CSA program and examples of successful programs that already exist.

Interested in more resources and research related to savings?