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Tax Counseling for Seniors Offered at No Charge

Individuals who are age 60 or older can receive free tax help from the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Program, sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Through agreements with the IRS,  private or non-governmental public, non-profit agencies or organizations provide training and technical assistance to seniors in the preparation of their individual federal income tax returns.  (Grant funds are used to train TCE volunteers and reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses such as transportation and meals that the volunteers incur in providing tax counseling assistance at no fee to seniors.)

TCE offices are generally located at convenient sites for taxpayers including community and neighborhood centers, libraries, schools and shopping malls.  Most locations also offer free electronic filing. 

Tax counseling at these sites includes the preparation of individual federal income tax returns, as well as advice, guidance and assistance regarding questions relating to individual federal income tax returns.  (TCE services do not include things such as investment or estate planning, or representing taxpayers before the IRS or in judicial proceedings.) 

The senior’s federal tax return is checked under a ‘quality review’ to ensure its accuracy and completeness by a designated volunteer other than the individual who assisted in the preparation of the tax return.  If a senior calls the TCE office telephone number, accuracy checks will include responses made to the senior’s telephone inquiries.

TCE volunteers who offer tax counseling to seniors must have knowledge of basic tax skills before attending the required TCE training and becoming TCE-certified.  All volunteers, even Enrolled Agents and Professional Accountants, must pass a test to be certified by TCE.  Each volunteer is evaluated on the ability to efficiently serve senior taxpayers, while providing high quality assistance. Volunteers are not to deal with topics that they have no experience in handling, or on which they have not received IRS training.

Senior taxpayers using the TCE program provide personal information to the volunteers such as photo identification; names and addresses; Social Security Numbers and birth dates for

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themselves, spouses and dependents; wage and earnings statements, as well as interest and dividend statements and copies of last year’s federal and state returns, if available. Volunteers must keep the information confidential and protect it from unauthorized individuals and misuse.

Thousands of organizations nationwide are partnering with IRS to make a difference in the senior community.  To get the location, dates and hours of the volunteer site closest to you, call the IRS toll-free at 1-800-829-1040.

For more information, contact:

·         The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) offers free tax help to low- to moderate-income ($37,000 and below) people.  VITA is often co-located with TCE.  Call 1-800-829-1040 to locate the nearest VITA site.

·         www.irs.gov.  To learn about programs in your area that offer you free income tax preparation assistance:  in the Keyword search on the IRS.gov home page, type in the Keyword, Community Network. 

·         http://www.aarp.org/money/taxaide.  AARP Tax-Aide, 1-888-227-7669, is part of the TCE Program, with more than 9,000 sites during tax filing season.  www.irs.gov/advocate/index.html.  The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS, helps taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS.  If you will suffer a significant hardship/economic burden as a result of the tax laws, contact this service.

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