Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Matching Grant Program

The VITA grant is a matching grant offered to support free tax return preparation through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Eligible organizations must serve low to moderate income individuals (defined by the earned income tax credit (EITC) threshold), persons with disabilities, persons with limited English proficiency, Native Americans, individuals living in rural areas, members of the Armed Forces and their spouses, and the elderly. Eligible organizations must meet specific goals through their VITA program which include increasing their capacity to file returns electronically, heightening quality control, enhancing training of volunteers, and significantly improving the accuracy rate of returns prepared by VITA sites.

Applicant organizations must provide proof of tax-exempt status and must meet the matching funds requirement. Applicant organizations must be compliant with federal tax obligations. Applicants must be a current partner with the Internal Revenue Service operating a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program with the Taxpayer Services SPEC organization. Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Eligible applications go through a 2-tier review process:
(1) A technical evaluation (ranking) by Internal Revenue Service employees; and (2) A program evaluation involving an in-depth review of the applicant’s program plan, budget information, financial operations and past performance. The review considers the applicants proposed geographic coverage and target audiences.

The IRS evaluates all complete applications meeting initial eligibility requirements on technical merit, capacity to reach the targeted audiences, geographic coverage and prior year performance.