Tax Season Updates (Email Copy)

Hello trusty tax counselors!  I hope you are getting our weekly Tax Season Updates from Cailey Ambrose (cambrose@oashf.org)  If not, you can read this week's update below.  If you would like to be put back on our mailing list please email Cailey so you can recieve important updates straight in your inbox. Tax Season Updates and Acknowledgements: Week Three

Week three dutiful tax season participants: here is the news! First, the tax manuals for 2010 are now available on the Training tab of your counselor portal. If your manual has Tax Guide 2009 on the cover, please recycle it and print out the new guide from the Training tab of your counselor portal! We would like to remind all tax counselors of some important rules about being an Ohio Benefit Bank counselor: 1.     Sites and counselors should never keep a clients' documents (completed return, W2s , social security cards, etc). 2.     Counselors may NOT share login names (Everyone using OBB to file returns or applications MUST attend the appropriate training).   3.     To ensure the highest quality of services, client complaints are investigated. 4.     Finally not complying with the rules above or in the OBB organization agreeement could result in removal as an OBB counselor.  Next Week Check for our Tax Counselor and Site Spotlights! That's all we have for you folks this week. Look for these updates next week and in the weeks to come for more important information about tax season!!

Thank you for all your hard work!! Cailey Ambrose and the Ohio Benefit Bank Team

Happy EITC Awareness Day!

One great reason to use The Benefit Bank to file taxes is that we help clients access credits that they may miss if they file on their own.  Even the IRS wants to make sure people know about a potentially large tax credit for our low income clients, called the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. 

If you are on Twitter, make sure you follow OASHF for the latest EITC Awareness Day facts.  Or, you can visit Twitter and search "EITC" to see what other people are saying about it.

Here is the information about EITC Awareness Day I got from the IRS:

Workers Urged to Check Eligibly for EITC; IRS and Partners Mark 5th EITC Awareness Day

Videos: Earned Income Tax Credit: English
Podcast: Earned Income Tax Credit
 
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and partners nationwide mark the 5th Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day on Friday, Jan. 28. This initiative highlights the availability of one of the federal government’s largest benefit programs for working families and individuals. 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created a new category of families with three or more children and increased the maximum benefit of EITC for tax years 2009 and 2010. The Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2010 extended these changes through 2012. 

The maximum credit for 2010 tax returns is $5,666 for workers with three or more qualifying children. However, workers without qualifying children may also be eligible for a smaller credit amount. 

"Millions of workers who did not earn high incomes claimed the EITC last year," said Doug Shulman, IRS commissioner. "The IRS encourages all eligible taxpayers to claim this valuable credit. Together with our partners, we can help taxpayers file their returns and get the EITC." 

Workers who earned $48,362 or less from wages, self-employment or farm income last year could receive larger refunds if they qualify for the EITC. Four out of five eligible taxpayers claimed the EITC last year obtaining an extra $2,200 from the credit on average. This represents a critical financial boost to over 26 million workers who earn low to moderate incomes.
Eligibility for the EITC is determined based on a number of factors including earnings, filing status and eligible children. Many people who experienced a change in these factors will qualify for the first time this year and may not be aware of the credit. 

Taxpayers must file a tax return, even if they do not have a filing requirement, and specifically claim the credit. Those who typically fail to claim the EITC include rural workers and their families; non-traditional families, such as grandparents or foster parents raising children; taxpayers without qualifying children; individuals with limited English proficiency; Native Americans; and taxpayers with disabilities. 

You earned it. Now file, claim it and get it
 
It is easy to verify eligibility for EITC by going to www.irs.gov and typing "EITC" into the search box. There is an online EITC Assistant, which can help taxpayers determine eligibility by answering a few simple questions.

More information and the details of eligibility rules are available at www.irs.gov/eitc.

Related Items:

• FS-2011-8, EITC Eligibility Rules for 2010 Tax Year Outlined

Ohio Benefit Bank in Schools - Outreach

Attention school staff and volunteers!  Want to help your students and their families connect to public benefits like food assistance or Medicaid, and tax credits like the EITC?  View the brief presentation below to get an idea of what the Benefit Bank is.

Interested?  Contact Sarah Olinger to discuss further how you can use this tool, or go ahead and register as an OBB site HERE.  See a recent press release on our efforts HERE.

To view this Prezi, click on the gray arrow at the bottom of the box and keep clicking to view each step.  You can also view it in another window by clicking the "OBB in Schools" link beneath the box.

OBB in Schools on Prezi

You can also view a more comprehensive and detailed look at the Ohio Benefit Bank via a webinar I created on YouTube here:

2010 Tax Guide Available

Tax Counselors, many of you have been wondering about the new 2010 Tax Guide. It is now available! To access the guide, simply log in to your counselor account on www.ohiobenefits.org then visit the training tab. Under the training tab you will see a Guides section. The OH 2010 Tax Guide is located there!
Thank you for all of your hard work!

New Site: Hard Hatted Women

Welcome to a new Central Ohio OBB site with state-wide reach!  They have a site here in Columbus, as well as a new site in Cleveland.  

The Hard Hatted Women are working here in Columbus out of the offices of one of their partners, the Institute on Women: http://instituteonwomen.org/ . 

Their website is located at http://www.hardhattedwomen.org. Their mission is "To empower women to achieve economic independence by creating workplace diversity in trade and technical careers."  They also include that "Because the vast majority of women we assist are unemployed or low income women in "dead end" jobs, a major result of our work is to assist women and their families to escape the cycle of poverty."  

 We salute your efforts and welcome you to the OBB network. 

Tax Help ‘en Español’

Benefit Bank tax sites: Are you helping Spanish speaking clients file tax returns?  Here are some resources for you, straight from the IRS.

Tax information can be tough to understand in any language, but it can be even more difficult if it is not in your first language. The IRS offers a wide range of free and easy-to-use products and services for Spanish speaking taxpayers. Here are nine ways you can get help from the IRS if you need assistance with your federal taxes in Spanish:

1. Get answers 24 hours a day seven days a week http://irs.gov/espanol has a wealth of information accessible all day, every day for individuals and businesses. You will find links to tax-related information, disaster relief, identity theft and warnings about common tax scams that victimize taxpayers. You can also check the status of your tax refund through the online tool ¿Dónde está mi reembolso? and even find out if you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a refundable tax credit for many people who earned less than $48,000, using the Asistente EITC on our secure website.
2. Get up-to-date at the Multimedia Center Watch YouTube video tax tips and listen to audio podcasts on various IRS topics in Spanish and English by entering the keywords “Centro Multimediático” into the search box of the IRS website.
3. TeleTax is a toll-free, automated telephone service. TeleTax provides helpful pre-recorded tax topic messages and refund information. You can find a list more than 125 TeleTax topics, available in Spanish and English, in the instructions for Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ. TeleTax can also help if at least four weeks have passed since you filed your return and you want to check on the status of your federal refund. Having a copy of your return handy will help you respond to the prompts on the automated system. TeleTax is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 800-829-4477.
4. Get tax forms and publications You can view and download several tax forms and publications in Spanish directly from http://irs.gov/espanol at any hour of the day or night.
5. Visit the IRS Spanish Newsroom Find the agency’s most recent announcements, tips and information on recently implemented tax law that could affect you. Avoid missing any benefits and keep up to date by typing the keywords “Noticias en Espanol” into the search box of the IRS website.
6. Toll-Free Telephone Assistance is available from Spanish-speaking IRS representatives by calling the IRS customer service line at 800-829-1040 and then pressing 8.

Links:

• El IRS en Espanol

Publication 1SP, Derechos del Contribuyente (Your Rights as a Taxpayer) (PDF 26K)

Upcoming Community Conversations

Ohio's $8 billion structural deficit leaves our state legislators with little choice but to make some tough decisions in the months ahead, decisions that could deeply affect your community and the programs you operate.

OASHF, the Ohio Job & Family Services Directors Association, and Advocates for Ohio's Future are hosting "Community Conversations" across the state and we need you to attend and speak about:

The amazing social service programs you operate, including the OBB

The state of Ohio's economy and how it is affecting your community

The support you need to support Ohio's struggling families

State legislators, media, and community stakeholders have been invited. Don't get left out of the conversation! Find your nearest Community Conversation and RSVP here.

Tax Update Webinar

Changes for 2010 Taxes will be reviewed in an upcoming webinar on Wednesday, January 12th from 12-1.  If you haven't already, please register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/231738066.

The presentation slides for this webinar will also be made available on the OASHF website.

New training site login

Tired of seeing "Authentication Failed" when you try to log on to the training site?  We now have a brand new way to login and practice with fake clients.

When you are at the training site (remember, it should have a red background), in the counselor login field type "oh" followed by any number between 1 and 500.  For example, the login field could read "oh249" The password field is still the same "tbb12345." 

Happy practicing!

Exciting new tool!

ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION! The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) are now offering clients the opportunity to report case changes online! Ohio Benefit Bank counselors can now assist clients applying for benefits through the benefit bank and help them make changes to their ODJFS case too! If you know someone who can take advantage of this wonderful tool send them to this website; https://odjfsbenefits.ohio.gov/SelfServiceSplash.jsf

A few tips for using the online tool:

To report changes, clients must know their case number, category, and sequence. These items can be found on the bottom of paperwork from ODJFS.

Remember to allow adequate time for information to be processed!