Thank you Rhonda T for sharing this awesome story.

Under the sponsorship of Heart of West Michigan United Way, Kent County Tax Credit Coalition (KCTCC) has been offering VITA service in Western Michigan since 2004. Over the years KCTCC has managed to retain an average of 150 – 160 volunteers each year, for 2018 KCTCC has a total of 227 dedicated volunteers working at 12 sites. When Brenda B., Program Manager of KCTCC was asked what she believes contributes to the success of their volunteer retention she replied “ We try to keep it exciting for our volunteers”.

With help from their marketing department, workplace campaign and, donor relations Heart of West Michigan United Way has been able to advertise and recruit using a variety of sources including flyers, coupons, bus signs, bill boards, and social media to name a few. This year’s big hit was the use of beverage coasters advertising Free Tax Preparation. “The coasters were distributed throughout Kent County wherever people gathered.  We handed them out in churches, stores, restaurants, on the street and, even bars so I was told” laughed Brenda. Volunteers are also involved in the recruitment process; with the support of local athletic teams volunteers can win event tickets by recruiting other volunteers and having their names entered into drawings. Volunteers have won tickets for Grand Rapids Griffins (Hockey) and Grand Rapids Drive (Basketball) games.

Many thanks to everyone involved in the Heart of West Michigan United Way / Kent County Tax Credit Coalition VITA Program for a Job Well Done!

The returns will be put in maintenance mode at 5:00 am on Monday, March 26th to apply a series of updates.  The updates are scheduled to include:

• Carry Forward of Child Provider information for Form 2441 (Issue ID 989)
• Added the ability to enter IP PIN when completing a 1040PR (Issue ID 1480)
• Correction to requirement on Foreign Earned Compensation (Issue ID 1528)
• Change made to allow Combat Zone election to stay selected after re-opening the return (Issue ID  1705)

The following PDF is the first of many updates on your suggestions.  This document will be updated periodically with new suggestions and responses.  As we move out of tax season into planning season, it will also be updated with an indicator of the suggestions that will be able to implement for the next filing season.

Our goal is to implement as many suggestions as possible, however, we will not be able to implement all suggestions for the upcoming filing season.  Even if we are not able to implement a suggestion for the upcoming filing season.

We will also be indicating if we will not be implementing a suggestion and why.

Don’t see your suggestion…don’t worry…suggestions will be added to the list as we pull them.

Don’t see a response next to your suggestion…we are reviewing each suggestion and will provide a response.

Click here to view PDF

The link will launch a Brainshark video with instructions on how to view the file.

Bert has been a volunteer for 25 years.  Thank you for your volunteer service.  Bert was featured in an article written by Jenny Sparks/ Loveland Reporter-Herald

Thank you Harry and Rebecca for sharing

Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary of being a VITA volunteer.  Thank you for your volunteer service.

Recognized by Fox 4 as a “Hometown Hero”

Click here to view the video and news article.

Thank you Pennie C from United Way of Tarrant County for sharing this wonderful story.

We will be putting the returns in maintenance mode at 5:00 am ET to apply a series of updates.  The update is scheduled to include:

• Auto filling Box 2a on the 1099R (Issue #1646)
• Expanding the Form Finder display when searching for specific forms from the left navigation bar
• Updated text within the 8880 menu to point out that current year distributions reported as income are automatically included in the 8880 calc to avoid double-entry
• Zip Code Updates
  • 39854 – Georgetown, GA
  • 48193 – Riverview, MI
  • 85756 – Tucson, AZ
  • 60124 – Elgin, IL
  • 60418 – Crestwood, IL
• Fixed an issue where the CF-1040 was not included in the PDF for 2016 MI returns (Issue #261)
• Fixed an issue where adding the OH RITA locality form within the 2016 program would break the print (Issue #1527)

When asked why Kristen D. volunteers for VITA, she said, “It lets me make a difference in someone else’s life.” It’s VITA Awareness Day! #VITAWorks

In 90 years TAUW has invested more than $669 million in the Tulsa area. TAUW provides services to hundreds of thousands annually through 61 partner agencies.

Thank you for your volunteer service and the awesome work you do.