Latest news with #VITA
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Direct File is free, easy and trusthworthy — so why does Trump's administration want to end it?
Filling out tax forms, in this file photo from 2022. (Photo by Senior Airman Thomas Karol/U.S. Air Force) It takes most Americans an average of $270 and 13 hours to do their taxes. With Direct File, it takes less than 60 minutes to do it yourself and costs nothing. Direct File is the IRS's new electronic option for taxpayers to file their income tax returns directly with the IRS for free. This tax season, Direct File's pilot expanded to 25 states, including Maryland. Our nonprofit organization, the CASH (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope) Campaign of Maryland (CASH), supported the development of the Maryland State Return add-on to IRS Direct File that directly linked taxpayers to a state return upon completion of their federal tax return. Through targeted outreach and partnerships with local organizations, we helped raise awareness about Direct File and connected thousands of Marylanders with free, accessible tax filing options. This work builds on our long-standing commitment to financial stability and economic empowerment for working families: We promote economic advancement for low- to moderate-income individuals and families and lead a coalition of over 50 free tax preparation sites known as Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites across the state. Maryland Matters welcomes guest commentary submissions at editor@ We suggest a 750-word limit and reserve the right to edit or reject submissions. We do not accept columns that are endorsements of candidates, and no longer accept submissions from elected officials or political candidates. Opinion pieces must be signed by at least one individual using their real name. We do not accept columns signed by an organization. Commentary writers must include a short bio and a photo for their bylines. Views of writers are their own. Like VITA, Direct File gives Marylanders a free, easy, and trustworthy option to meet their tax filing obligations. Unlike VITA, Direct File gives taxpayers an option that doesn't require securing limited appointments and allows them to get their taxes done from home (or even cellphone!). This flexibility is especially important for people with nontraditional work schedules, caregiving responsibilities or transportation barriers. By removing these obstacles, Direct File ensures that more people can meet their tax obligations on their own time, without sacrificing work hours or family commitments. Direct File echoes the goals of VITA while expanding its capacity, giving more low- and moderate-income Americans the opportunity to file their taxes for free rather than paying for and using a third-party tax preparer or software. While VITA is reliant on trained and certified volunteers and nonprofits for capacity, Direct File can be accessed by millions. The Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) told reporters in April that Direct File would not continue next year, citing 'hidden costs,' 'taxpayer confusion' and the expense of administering the program. There are no costs, hidden or otherwise, to use the program. Direct File is completely free to eligible taxpayers. Because the program allows taxpayers to file directly with the IRS and their states, users are never redirected to paid options. The same cannot be said about Free File compliant software offered by traditional tax software developers like TaxAct and TaxSlayer. Notably, TurboTax by Intuit and H&R Block, two of the largest and most well-known paid tax preparation companies, withdrew from the Free File Alliance in 2021. Filing your taxes can be confusing, but Direct File is simpler and more user-friendly than third-party tax software. Participants during the first year of the program said it themselves: 90% ranked their overall experience as Excellent or Above Average, 90% who used customer support rated that experience as Excellent or Above Average, and 86% of respondents said that their experience with Direct File increased their trust in the IRS. Plus, Direct File users have access to customer support from real people during the entire process. Continuing to build Direct File is an investment that will save time and money for Americans far into the future. If Direct File continues, the taxpayer dollars already invested will not go to waste. Progress has already been made to expand the program. Direct File can grow to serve more states and a wider range of tax situations. Future versions of the program can simplify the process by prefilling information the IRS already has (like the details of a W-2 form). If it is not preemptively shut down, Direct File will continue to be improved based on real feedback from its users. Paying taxes allows our country to thrive, and Americans should not be burdened with extra costs and time-consuming processes to meet their filing obligations. Protecting the Direct File program is an investment in everyday Americans – making their government work for them.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gen Z is reviving this boring job that millennials and boomers abandoned—and it's helping them land six-figure careers straight out of college
As millions of boomer accountants gear up for retirement, the industry is facing a talent shortage crisis. While it's been lamented as one of America's most boring jobs and headed down a path of extinction, Gen Z is realizing the six-figure career opportunity—and gaining experience by helping individuals file their taxes for free. The IRS is on DOGE's chopping block, the extension of tax cuts is up in the air, and Tax Day is approaching in just days—and accountants are so fed up with the stress that they're leaving the industry in droves. Some 340,000 accountants have already left their calculators behind and quit in the last five years, and some estimates suggest that 75% of those remaining are expected to retire in the next decade. For a field that is often judged as less exciting than others (according to one study, it is the second-most-stereotyped job of boring people), the crisis couldn't get much worse. Now, Gen Z is coming to the rescue. 'Accounting is the science of the business world,' says Alana Kelley, a third-year accounting and biohealth science major at Oregon State University who has helped dozens of families file their taxes this season as part of her school's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. One was a goat farmer who only had a landline, but no access to the internet. Another was a young woman who was financially supporting her sister. Kelley was able to help them obtain a life-changing $6,000 back in refunds. One of Kelley's peers, Tristan Klascius—a third-year studying accounting and finance—helped an elderly woman gain access to her much-needed Social Security income that she otherwise couldn't figure out. Kelley and Klascius are just two examples of the Gen Zers who are increasingly viewing accounting not as a monotonous chore but as a way to completely transform people's lives. Their actions are already helping save Americans millions of dollars through free tax help through a partnership with the IRS and close to two dozen universities. The IRS's VITA program began over 50 years ago at California State University, Northridge to aid low-income and underserved communities in navigating the increasingly complicated tax system. Last year alone, an army of more than 280 CSUN students helped over 9,000 low-income taxpayers claim nearly $11 million in tax refunds and $3.6 million in tax credits—plus save them over $2 million in tax preparation fees. In the weeks leading up to Tax Day, some students work from 10 in the morning until 10 at night, helping families understand how much money they could get refunded or owe back. And while the impact may seem minimal, especially considering that $8.2 billion in Earned Income Tax Credits were left on the table by Americans in the 2021 tax year, every return and refund dollar can matter for struggling families. Some 66% of Americans feel like they are now living paycheck to paycheck. The CSUN program's current director, Rafael Efrat, tells Fortune that VITA at universities is an embodiment of the good that can come out of the accounting profession and reshape hundreds of young people's views. Even Gen Zers outside of the business school—studying subjects like computer science, public health, and psychology—have been eager to join the tax assistance program. 'While accounting may have a certain image in the background among young people of being not as intriguing and exciting, once they actually engage in the practice and see how it plays out in a real world, it changes people's mind and views,' Efrat says. It's not just low-income Americans getting their taxes filed for free who are set to gain from VITA programs. The student volunteers, too, are obtaining unique hands-on skills by working with clients with sometimes complicated tax situations—and gaining the confidence needed to excel on day one when they graduate and land a six-figure-paying job. 'We throw the students into the water, essentially, and let them swim, and then students actually live up to the challenge,' Efrat says. Despite the median total pay of an accountant being $87,000 (or even $200,000 for certified public accountants (CPAs), getting students excited about taxes remains the ultimate challenge. The number of bachelor's degrees awarded in accounting peaked in 2015–16, and the years following each saw decreases by about 1%–3%, according to the American Institute of CPAs. The pandemic brought an even greater punch, with accounting degrees slipping by as much as 7% between 2021–22 and 2022–23. According to Logan Steele, an accounting professor at OSU, many young people have an outdated view of what an accountant actually does. No longer does the field spend its time performing manual calculations on paper spreadsheets; accountants have outsourced much of the mundane tasks to technology like AI, and they're now more focused on strategic decision-making. However, the tide is beginning to turn, he says. Nearly every accounting graduate at OSU—98%—secure jobs in the field, he says, and their salaries are the highest in recorded history of any major program in the business school. With Gen Zers increasingly preferring job security over job flexibility, the shift to accepting accounting as a promising career path may grow, especially with calls to decrease the barriers to becoming a certified personal accountant. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gen Z is reviving this boring job that millennials and boomers abandoned—and it's helping them land six-figure careers straight out of college
As millions of boomer accountants gear up for retirement, the industry is facing a talent shortage crisis. While it's been lamented as one of America's most boring jobs and headed down a path of extinction, Gen Z is realizing the six-figure career opportunity—and gaining experience by helping individuals file their taxes for free. The IRS is on DOGE's chopping block, the extension of tax cuts is up in the air, and Tax Day is approaching in just days—and accountants are so fed up with the stress that they're leaving the industry in droves. Some 340,000 accountants have already left their calculators behind and quit in the last five years, and some estimates suggest that 75% of those remaining are expected to retire in the next decade. For a field that is often judged as less exciting than others (according to one study, it is the second-most-stereotyped job of boring people), the crisis couldn't get much worse. Now, Gen Z is coming to the rescue. 'Accounting is the science of the business world,' says Alana Kelley, a third-year accounting and biohealth science major at Oregon State University who has helped dozens of families file their taxes this season as part of her school's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. One was a goat farmer who only had a landline, but no access to the internet. Another was a young woman who was financially supporting her sister. Kelley was able to help them obtain a life-changing $6,000 back in refunds. One of Kelley's peers, Tristan Klascius—a third-year studying accounting and finance—helped an elderly woman gain access to her much-needed Social Security income that she otherwise couldn't figure out. Kelley and Klascius are just two examples of the Gen Zers who are increasingly viewing accounting not as a monotonous chore but as a way to completely transform people's lives. Their actions are already helping save Americans millions of dollars through free tax help through a partnership with the IRS and close to two dozen universities. The IRS's VITA program began over 50 years ago at California State University, Northridge to aid low-income and underserved communities in navigating the increasingly complicated tax system. Last year alone, an army of more than 280 CSUN students helped over 9,000 low-income taxpayers claim nearly $11 million in tax refunds and $3.6 million in tax credits—plus save them over $2 million in tax preparation fees. In the weeks leading up to Tax Day, some students work from 10 in the morning until 10 at night, helping families understand how much money they could get refunded or owe back. And while the impact may seem minimal, especially considering that $8.2 billion in Earned Income Tax Credits were left on the table by Americans in the 2021 tax year, every return and refund dollar can matter for struggling families. Some 66% of Americans feel like they are now living paycheck to paycheck. The CSUN program's current director, Rafael Efrat, tells Fortune that VITA at universities is an embodiment of the good that can come out of the accounting profession and reshape hundreds of young people's views. Even Gen Zers outside of the business school—studying subjects like computer science, public health, and psychology—have been eager to join the tax assistance program. 'While accounting may have a certain image in the background among young people of being not as intriguing and exciting, once they actually engage in the practice and see how it plays out in a real world, it changes people's mind and views,' Efrat says. It's not just low-income Americans getting their taxes filed for free who are set to gain from VITA programs. The student volunteers, too, are obtaining unique hands-on skills by working with clients with sometimes complicated tax situations—and gaining the confidence needed to excel on day one when they graduate and land a six-figure-paying job. 'We throw the students into the water, essentially, and let them swim, and then students actually live up to the challenge,' Efrat says. Despite the median total pay of an accountant being $87,000 (or even $200,000 for certified public accountants (CPAs), getting students excited about taxes remains the ultimate challenge. The number of bachelor's degrees awarded in accounting peaked in 2015–16, and the years following each saw decreases by about 1%–3%, according to the American Institute of CPAs. The pandemic brought an even greater punch, with accounting degrees slipping by as much as 7% between 2021–22 and 2022–23. According to Logan Steele, an accounting professor at OSU, many young people have an outdated view of what an accountant actually does. No longer does the field spend its time performing manual calculations on paper spreadsheets; accountants have outsourced much of the mundane tasks to technology like AI, and they're now more focused on strategic decision-making. However, the tide is beginning to turn, he says. Nearly every accounting graduate at OSU—98%—secure jobs in the field, he says, and their salaries are the highest in recorded history of any major program in the business school. With Gen Zers increasingly preferring job security over job flexibility, the shift to accepting accounting as a promising career path may grow, especially with calls to decrease the barriers to becoming a certified personal accountant. This story was originally featured on
Associated Press
11-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Prosperity Now and Wells Fargo Foundation Award $200,000 to 15 Organizations Expanding Access to Free Tax Preparation Services
WASHINGTON, April 11, 2025 /3BL/ - Each year, a significant share of eligible taxpayers do not claim tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), leaving billions of dollars on the table. In 2021, 22% of eligible households did not receive the EITC, resulting in approximately $8.2 billion in unclaimed refunds. That represents not only missed opportunities for families to strengthen their financial position, but also for communities to benefit from greater local spending and economic activity. To help address this gap, Prosperity Now, in collaboration with the Wells Fargo Foundation, has awarded $200,000 to 15 community-based organizations through the 2025 VITA Support Fund [see full list below]. These organizations provide no-cost, IRS-certified Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) services in 12 U.S. markets, ensuring eligible taxpayers can confidently file their returns and claim the full range of refundable credits, including the EITC and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Tax preparation services can be costly, with the average price of a basic return nearing $400 for households earning between $20,000 and $60,000 annually. For families already balancing tight budgets, that price tag is out of reach. VITA programs remove that barrier, offering no-cost and accurate filing in trusted, community-based settings. The selected organizations have a strong record of delivering high-quality services with cultural and community awareness at the center. They are expected to prepare over 20,000 tax returns this year, returning an estimated $25 million in refunds and credits to households who earned them. Many also provide year-round support through financial coaching, connections to safe banking options, and help navigating public benefit programs. 'No one should miss out on tax credits they've earned because they can't afford help filing,' said Marisa Calderon, President & CEO of Prosperity Now. 'When we support community-based tax preparation, we're not only helping families strengthen their financial footing, but we're also keeping dollars circulating in local economies where they can do the most good.' 'Wells Fargo is committed to helping people achieve economic mobility, and one of the first steps is making sure they receive all the money they have earned,' said Bonnie Wallace, head of financial health philanthropy at Wells Fargo. 'Supporting VITA programs is an important way we can make a difference on people's path to financial security.' The VITA Support Fund reflects Prosperity Now and the Wells Fargo Foundation's shared commitment to expanding financial opportunity through trusted community partnerships. Meet the 2025 VITA Support Fund Grantees About the VITA Support Fund The VITA Support Fund aims to close the gap in tax filing support by investing in organizations that are deeply rooted in the communities they serve. This year's grantees bring language access, cultural relevance, and personalized support to individuals and families who might otherwise face barriers to receiving their full tax refund. The cohort includes trusted partners with strong local ties and organizations expanding their reach through volunteer training, digital tools, and partnerships with schools, faith communities, and service providers. About Prosperity Now Since 1979, Prosperity Now has been a trusted leader in strengthening financial security, expanding access to capital, and ensuring economic stability for businesses, families, and communities. We work across sectors to develop practical, scalable solutions that create lasting change. Through innovation, strategic investment, and collaboration, we build the infrastructure needed to sustain small business growth, housing opportunities, and financial well-being in an evolving economic landscape. Learn more at ###
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Neighborhood Improvement Association to hold free income tax prep sessions
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — The Neighborhood Improvement Association (NIA) and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program will hold free income tax prep on Saturday, April 12. The event will be held at the Moses Jackson Advancement Center, located on 1410 Richards Street, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. NIA and VITA will also provide prep for back taxes, with years dating as far back as 2019. This date is urgent, because anyone expecting a refund from 2021 must file by April 15th to receive the refund. According to the IRS, over 38,000 individuals in Georgia have not claimed refunds that total $33.5 million. You will need to bring the following material to the site: Official Photo ID for Taxpayer and Spouse Social Security Card or ITIN letter for all on return All W-2's and other income information, Unemployment (1099-G), Retirement (1099-R), 1099 NEC, 1099 MISC and Social Security Benefits (SSA-1099), if applicable Healthcare Forms 1095-A (Marketplace-ACA) Home Mortgage Interest (Form 1098) Forms 1098-T (Education) or 1098-E (Student Loan Interest) (if applicable) Childcare Expenses (if applicable) IPPIN – IRS Identity Protection Pin (if applicable) Checking & Savings account information for direct deposit. For more information, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
