QSR 7: Civil Rights

All VITA/TCE sites must make available to all taxpayers who seek services at the site information on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by providing the current Publication 4053 (en-sp), Your Civil Rights are Protected Poster for IRS Assisted Programs (VITA/TCE/LITC) (English & Spanish), or a current D143, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide (poster).

All VITA/TCE sites serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) taxpayers must offer Publication 4053, if available, in the taxpayers’ first languages. Please refer to IRS.gov for the availability of Publication 4053 in various languages.

These posters provide volunteers and taxpayers with contact information to report discriminatory treatment. If a taxpayer or volunteer has a civil rights complaint, refer them to the contact information on Publication 4053 (en-sp). If taxpayers request the information in writing, offer Publication 4454, Your Civil Rights are Protected. Publication 4454 is an optional brochure designed to notify taxpayers of their civil rights when the site cannot provide tax preparation services (for example, lack of information to prepare the return, the return is not within scope of the VITA/ TCE program).

Taxpayers must have access to the civil rights information even if they do not have a tax return prepared. At a traditional site, the poster must be visible at the first point of contact between the taxpayer and volunteer. For virtual sites, the poster must be sent or made available to all seeking services.

It is not acceptable to use Publication 730 (EN-SP) or the Tax-Aide envelope as the source for notifying the taxpayers of their civil rights. This product offers information to the taxpayer who receives service, not the taxpayer who is denied service.