CHAPTER 1: VITA/TCE Program Guidelines

Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication (SPEC) is a three-pronged business model:

Tax Education - IRS outreach program provides critical information to taxpayers ensuring they understand and comply with their tax obligations. Partners and community-based coalitions share information designed to enhance the public’s knowledge of general income tax law, available tax credits, current legislative changes affecting tax law and availability/advantages to e-file.

Tax Preparation Services - The SPEC volunteer tax return preparation program, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE), provide free tax preparation services for low to moderate income taxpayers such as the elderly, persons with disabilities, Native Americans, rural taxpayers, and those individuals with limited English proficiency.

Financial Education and Asset Building - The goal is to work with partners who provide free tax preparation sites to encourage taxpayers to use their refund dollars to improve their financial health. By working in connection with financial institutions and other organizations, partners can provide the financial options taxpayers need and want, such as banking, savings, debit cards, financial counseling, and other financial services. Incentives like these present an affordable way for taxpayers to begin asset building and achieve financial independence.

SPEC is the outreach and education function of the IRS. The SPEC mission shares the strategies of many community organizations striving to assist taxpayers in satisfying their responsibilities. We do this by building and maintaining partnerships with key stakeholders, seeking to create and share value by informing, educating, and communicating with shared customers.

SPEC develops and supports leveraged partnerships and coalitions to deliver most of its programs and services. SPEC oversees the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs, which offer free tax return preparation to low to moderate-income taxpayers, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, those with limited English proficiency, and Native Americans. SPEC supports VITA/ TCE tax preparation sites by conducting oversight reviews to ensure sites adhere to the established Volunteer Standards of Conduct (VSC) and Quality Site Requirements (QSR).

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