IRS seeks applicants for free tax help programs

The Internal Revenue Service is accepting applications for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grant programs, which will allow some organizations to apply for annual funding for up to three years.  Greater Pittsburgh and west Pennsylvania organizations that have provided free tax preparation and filing services to area taxpayers are encouraged to apply.

Applications will be accepted only through Grants.gov until May 31, 2013.  Previous grant recipients will have the option to apply for up to three years of annual funding which would reduce the amount of paperwork they must complete over the three-year period. This annual funding will also help recipients with budget planning.

Application packages for TCE and VITA are available on Grants.gov.  Interested organizations may obtain an electronic copy of the grant application package instructions, Publication 1101 for TCE and Publication 4671 for VITA on the IRS.gov website. 

The TCE program was established in 1978 to provide tax counseling and return preparation to persons age 60 or older and to give training and technical assistance to the volunteers who provide free federal income tax assistance to seniors across the nation. 

The VITA Grant program was established in 2007 to supplement the VITA program, which was created in 1969.  VITA provides underserved communities with free federal income tax filing assistance.  The grant program enables VITA to extend services to underserved populations in hard-to-reach urban and non-urban areas, to increase taxpayers’ ability to file returns electronically, to enhance training of volunteers and to improve the accuracy rate of returns prepared at VITA sites.