Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Matching Grant Program

The VITA grant is a matching grant offered to support free tax return preparation through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Eligible organizations must serve low to moderate income individuals (defined by the earned income tax c

The VITA grant is a matching grant offered to support free tax return preparation through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Eligible organizations must serve low to moderate income individuals (defined by the earned income tax credit (EITC) threshold), persons with disabilities, persons with limited English proficiency, Native Americans, individuals living in rural areas, members of the Armed Forces and their spouses, and the elderly. Eligible organizations must meet specific goals through their VITA program which include increasing their capacity to file returns electronically, heightening quality control, enhancing training of volunteers, and significantly improving the accuracy rate of returns prepared by VITA sites.

Applicant organizations must provide proof of tax-exempt status and must meet the matching funds requirement. Applicant organizations must be compliant with federal tax obligations. Applicants must be a current partner with the Internal Revenue Service operating a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program with the Taxpayer Services SPEC organization. Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Helping low-income individuals and families, elderly, rural, persons with disabilities, Native American, limited English proficient and military individuals and family.

Recipients must use grant funds to operate a VITA program. Allowable expenses must be in accordance with 2 CFR Part 200, reasonable, necessary and allocable.

$500 limit on food for volunteers, funds cannot be used for tax preparation software, expenses for Outreach and Financial Education and Asset Building are limited to 10%, expenses for a laptop are limited to $1,000 per unit.

The grant period of performance is October 1st through September 30th. The IRS releases grant funds on an immediate need or reimbursement basis. The IRS deposits funding in an account managed by Health and Human Services Division of Payment Management. Recipients request and receive funds electronically after account establishment.

Requirements for federal awards applies to this program. Complete application procedures are included in IRS Publication 4671, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Grant Program Overview and Application Instructions. Applicants must provide proof of their entity status (i.e. tax-exempt organization/government agency). Matching funds must be documented.

Applications that pass the eligibility screening process will undergo a two-tiered evaluation process. Applications will be subject to both a technical evaluation by a ranking review panel and a secondary evaluation by the Grant Program Office.

Eligible applications go through a 2-tier review process: (1) A technical evaluation (ranking) by Internal Revenue Service employees; and (2) A program evaluation involving an in-depth review of the applicant's program plan, budget information, financial operations and past performance. The review considers the applicants proposed geographic coverage and target audiences.

The IRS evaluates all complete applications meeting initial eligibility requirements on technical merit, capacity to reach the targeted audiences, geographic coverage and prior year performance.

A multi-year award may be issued up to a maximum 3 years with year 2 and 3 renewals. A partial application must be submitted through grants.gov each year to renew. When year 3 expires applicants must submit a full application as a New type of application.

The IRS does not have an appeals process for those not selected for an award.