More Than Free Taxes: The Connection Between VITA, Financial Inclusion/Bank On and Tax Time Savings . . . An Interactive Virtual Session by FPP Coalition and Partners

More Than Free Taxes:
The Connection Between VITA,
Financial Inclusion/Bank On and
Tax Time Savings . . .
An Interactive Virtual Session by FPP Coalition and Partners

Friday, January 14, 2022
11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Eastern

Convening in the FPP Coalition Zoom Room
(link provided directly from the Zoom platform upon completion of registration)

Session Description:  

Some tend to view the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) nationwide initiative, now entering its 53rd year of serving low- to moderate-income taxpayers, households and communities, as a purely transactional method for helping other prepare their tax return each tax season . . . and that is it.

VITA Volunteers, Site Coordinators, even VITA Program Leaders and the Internal Revenue Service relationship managers can get caught up in the logistics of operating VITA sites across the nation, because the complexity of serving taxpayers is no easy task.

When the focus of the initiative’s key stakeholders shifts to the purely operational side of VITA, it becomes easy to overlook the deeper, strategic purpose that the nationwide VITA initiative is intended to generate–To Elevate Financial Capability for All (which also happens to be the Mission Statement for FPP Coalition!)

Join this interactive Virtual Session, brought to you by FPP Coalition, and featuring experts:

April A. Atkins, AICP
Community Affairs Specialist (Florida), Division of Consumer Protection
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Barry Altland, MAOL
Director, Coalition Engagement
FPP Coalition

Patrick Eichholtz
Director, Bank On Florida
FPP Coalition

Johanna Barrero
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Tax Time Savings Initiative
ICF

Together, the Virtual Session participants will explore the connection between how VITA Programs and Sites may consider elevating their practices to more richly serve taxpayers in their communities across the nation!  The focus of the conversation will be:

• Understanding the “Why” of VITA tax prep service and its connection to elevated Financial Capability
• More consistently realizing the “higher calling” for Programs, Sites, Leaders and Volunteers to go above “free tax return completion” to investing in the Financial Capability of our nation’s communities
• Grasping the role VITA can and should play in Elevating Financial Inclusion, including sharing simple resources that help the un- and underbanked taxpayers secure safe, affordable bank and credit union accounts that meet the Bank On 2.0 National Account Standards
• Embracing the CFPB Tax Time Savings Initiative to message to taxpayers the critical importance of “responsible management” of their tax refund, especially in the light of expanded tax credits in 2021 that may result in higher refund totals for a percentage of the taxpayers served through VITA Sites

Register today to engage with peers representing VITA and Financial Capability movements across the nation!