The volunteer income tax assistance (vita) grant was established as a matching grant program to provide funding for organizations who support community volunteer income tax assistance

The Internal Revenue Service awarded $330,000 to Gecu Foundation under the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Matching Grant Program (CFDA 21.009) on October 1, 2025, to deliver free tax return preparation and electronic filing services to underserved and low- to moderate-income populations through September 30, 2026.

Gecu Foundation, a minority-owned and Hispanic American-owned nonprofit foundation based in El Paso, Texas, will provide volunteer training enhancement, quality control strengthening, electronic filing capacity expansion, and return preparation accuracy improvement. The foundation must ensure at least 90 percent of prepared returns serve eligible low- to moderate-income individuals, file all eligible returns electronically, and achieve 100 percent of annual return production goals. Intended beneficiaries include taxpayers with low to moderate income, persons with disabilities, non-native English speakers, Native Americans, rural residents, military members and their families, and elderly individuals.

Gecu Foundation may utilize subrecipients to deliver key program elements while maintaining compliance with VITA grant program guidelines. The VITA grant program supports organizations extending services to hardest-to-reach areas in urban and non-urban settings and focuses on increasing electronic filing capacity, heightening quality control, enhancing volunteer training, and improving return preparation accuracy across participating sites.

Activities

The vita grant program provides financial support to organizations who 1) extend services to underserved populations in hardest to reach areas both urban and non-urban; 2) increase the capacity to file returns electronically; 3) heighten quality control; 4) enhance training of volunteers; and 5) significantly improve the accuracy rate of returns prepared at vita sites. End goal/expected outcomes: vita grant recipients are expected to 1) follow existing guidance governing vita site operations; 2) ensure at least 90% of returns prepared are for individuals whose income is equal to or less than the maximum earned income tax credit (eitc) thresholds; 2) file all eligible returns electronically; 3) achieve 100% of their return production goals; 4) become more efficient with grant funds; and 5) show incremental increases in return preparation each year.

Intended beneficiaries

Taxpayers who are low to moderate income individuals, persons with disabilities, those for whom english is a second language, native americans, individuals living in rural areas, members of the armed forces and their families, and the elderly.

Subrecipient activities

Subrecipients may be utilized by grant recipients to help deliver key elements of the program and must adhere to grant program guidelines. Broadband: specific activities relating to broadband usage are not known at the time of award.