EITC: Help Spread the Word!
In partnership with the IRS, the Administration for Children and Families would like to encourage our partners and grantees to engage in EITC awareness and outreach during the current tax season. We hope you will join us in getting the word out about these important resources.
To promote EITC Outreach, ACF Regional Administrator Joyce Thomas, along with partners from the IRS' Stakeholder Partnerships, Education, and Communication (SPEC) division have shared the following letter:
Dear Colleague,
The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a financial boost for working people in a recovering economy. EITC can provide a working family with up to $5,751. In the 2011 tax year, 1.67 million people in New York and 552,563 people in New Jersey claimed EITC for a total of $4.79 billion!
Many workers could qualify for the first time this year because their situation changed in 2011. Many more may already qualify but don’t know it, such as people with English as a second language, grandparents raising their grandchildren and childless workers. We want to ensure that all families and individuals who worked in 2011, and made $49,078 or less, know about the EITC. That's where you can help.
We encourage you to sponsor, partner and participate in EITC awareness and outreach activities during the current tax season. The goal is to generate extensive print, electronic and social media coverage.
The IRS has two free tools – EITC Central and Marketing Express – each with many grab-and-go products to help you carry the EITC message.
- EITC Central is your source for ready-to-use news releases, newsletter articles, and tweets. There are local statistics, fact sheets, fast facts, newsletter and Web articles, tips for running an EITC campaign, and other basic marketing and communication materials. For website and Face book pages, you can download a widget and banner ads. There are even pre-recorded on-hold messages, in English and Spanish, for your telephone system.
- With Marketing Express, you can create customized posters and print ads featuring the new EITC ad campaign with your name, address and message.
- EITC Marketing Made Easy is a webinar you can view from the IRS video portal. Get a peek at the new EITC ad campaign and a quick “how-to” demonstration for using EITC Central and Marketing Express.
- Create your own newsletter articles or letters to the editor using the IRS Reference Material provided on the Partner Toolkit. There are EITC Key Messages, EITC Fast Facts, Tips for Writing a Feature Story, and the EITC Statistics by State to help.
If you don’t have the time or resources to send out a news release, hold a press event or write to your local newspaper, please at least tweet about EITC. Your message could equate to food, shelter or rainy day savings for someone working hard to make ends meet.
Free Tax Preparation Assistance - We also want to make sure that eligible families and individuals know about the free tax preparation assistance that is available. The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (VITA) Program offers free tax help to low- to moderate income (generally, $50,000 and below) people who cannot prepare their own tax returns. VITA sites are located at community and neighborhood centers, libraries, schools, shopping malls and other convenient locations. You can locate VITA sites by calling 211 and 311 information systems and 1-800-906-9887.
Please join us in getting the word out about these important resources. We would appreciate hearing about your EITC outreach activities throughout the tax season. You can keep us informed by sending e-mail to Joan Gibson at joan.gibson@acf.hhs.gov. Let’s make
sure that all EITC eligible workers and families receive the credit they earned.
Sincerely,
Joyce A. Thomas
Regional Administrator
ACF Region II
James Duffy
New York City
SPEC Territory Manager
IRS
Elizabeth Hollingsworth
New Jersey
SPEC Territory Manager
IRS
Joseph P. Hayek
Buffalo
SPEC Territory Manager
IRS
