UWSWA Representative On Tax Committee in DC
From July 25-27, 2016, VITA Program Coordinator Brad Martin represented United Way of Southwest Alabama and the SAFE Coalition at a meeting of the Taxpayer Opportunity Network Steering Committee in Washington, DC. The Taxpayer Opportunity Network is a program of the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED).
The Taxpayer Opportunity Network brings together organizations and individuals who provide tax assistance to low-income communities at no or little cost to taxpayers. The Network shares critical information for effective service delivery, connecting expert practitioners across the country and providing timely tools and resources. It elevates the voices of volunteer tax preparers and taxpayers to improve policy support for tax preparation assistance and for a fair tax system that benefits low-income households.
The new tax software that the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs will be using in 2017 was a hot topic of conversation at the meeting.
“UWSWA was among the very first programs in the country to bring volunteers together to work with the new software,” Martin said. “We wanted to help them to become comfortable using it, but we also wanted to bring their unique feedback to the larger free tax preparation community. In doing so, we were able to give voice to concerns shared by our volunteers so that we can bring about improvements in the software that will benefit free tax programs across the country.”
The committee also met with Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, who acts as the voice of the taxpayer within the IRS, and Mel Hardy, Head of National Partnerships for IRS Stakeholder Partnerships, Education, & Communications (SPEC). Much of those conversations revolved around the IRS’ move toward electronic communication and service models, and the committee’s concerns that such changes in service delivery may not be working for low-income taxpayers served by free tax preparation programs.
A key component of the discussion also centered around sign language interpreters for free tax preparation sites. The IRS requires such services to be provided, but many sites don’t have the money to pay for interpreters, as much as they may recognize the need and want to do so.
“UWSWA is very fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity to work with sign language interpreters from the Alabama Institute for the Deaf & Blind,” said Martin, “but many programs don’t have that kind of organization available to them. As a blind person, I felt a strong need to join my fellow committee member, Lori Siedman with Deaf Inc. in Boston, to advocate for the rights of all persons with disabilities to have access to the same tax preparation service that everyone else is afforded.”
At the meeting, Brad Martin was invited to join the Quality Assurance Working Group, which focuses on improving and maintaining quality at free tax preparation programs.
“Quality is always a concern when you’re preparing someone’s taxes,” said Martin. “But with the new software, quality concerns are especially critical to address. I’ve made it a priority in UWSWA’s programs to develop tools to strengthen quality for our volunteers and taxpayers, and the Working Group recognized my leadership in this area. I’m happy to collaborate with such a powerful group of tax experts to strengthen our collective impact nationwide.”
In September, Martin will return to Washington to attend the Assets Learning Conference.
“I was fortunate, as a steering committee member, to receive a scholarship from the World Institute on Disabilities,” Martin Said. “So not only will they fund my attendance at the conference, but they will provide accommodations to make the conference accessible for me. That could include someone to read computer screens for me at presentations, or someone to help me navigate my way to different workshops within the meeting space.”
All of this work is leading up to the 2017 tax filing season.
“It will be here before we know it, and we want to be ready,” Martin said. “I’m really proud to be representing UWSWA on the national front. Being one of twelve steering committee members for a national organization that represents more than 55,000 volunteers is a big responsibility, and I take it very seriously.”