Tax Credit Outreach Resources
The Get It Back Campaign helps eligible workers in the United States claim tax credits and use free tax filing assistance to maximize tax time. A project of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Campaign partners with community organizations, businesses, government agencies, and financial institutions to conduct outreach nationally. For 30 years, these partnerships have connected lower and moderate-income workers to tax benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Child Tax Credit (CTC), and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). Their website contain a variety of outreach materials that can be adapted for your organization, including:
Virtual VITA Toolkit: Program Strategies
Program strategies grounded in an understanding of your community can increase the likelihood of engagement and follow-through. The following resources are intended to support VITA programs with implementation strategies at key program stages, like outreach and intake, and offer examples of how other virtual VITA programs have addressed critical challenges.
Helping Consumers Claim their Economic Impact Payment: A guide for intermediary organizations
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a guide to assist intermediaries in serving individuals to access their Economic Impact Payments (EIPs). The guide, Helping Consumers Claim the Economic Impact Payment: A guide for intermediary organizations , provides step-by-step instructions for frontline staff on how to:
Reaching Out: Improving the Canada Revenue Agency’s Community Volunteer Income Tax Program
The CVITP provides people, who may otherwise have difficulty accessing income tax and benefit return filing services, with an opportunity to meet their filing obligations. Often, filing a return is required to gain access to, or continue to receive, the government credits and benefits designed to support them. This report illustrates that the CRA needs to take a broad, country-wide perspective of the CVITP, while also taking into consideration regional and other differences. Services offered and training provided to volunteers need to reflect the realities of the diverse regional, geographic, socio-economic, workforce, and vulnerable, sectors throughout Canada. Different areas of the country will have different primary needs from the CVITP. The CRA needs to address those needs, both in its actions through the CVITP, as well as in the training provided to CVITP volunteers and the support given to partner organizations.
Transformation through disruption: Taxpayers’ Ombudsman Annual Report 2019-20
The mandate of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman is to assist, advise, and inform the Minister about any matter relating to services provided by the CRA. The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman fulfills this mandate by raising awareness, upholding taxpayer service rights, and facilitating the resolution of CRA service complaints issues. Through independent and objective reviews of service complaints and systemic issues, the Ombudsman and her Office work to enhance the CRA’s accountability and improve its service to, and treatment of, people. and systemic issues. This is the Annual Report of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman for 2019-20.
Reaching Out: Improving the Canada Revenue Agency’s Community Volunteer Income Tax Program
The position of Taxpayers’ Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) was created to support the government priorities of stronger democratic institutions, increased transparency within institutions, and fair treatment. As an independent and impartial officer, the Ombudsman handles complaints about the service of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman hears first-hand the concerns of individuals, tax practitioners, and community support organizations. The Ombudsman visited with Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) partner organizations, volunteers, and the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) CVITP coordinators to learn more about the program and to understand the success stories and challenges they all experience. This report gives voice to what they have heard and provides recommendations on how to address the issues raised.