IRS Wants Your Take on Free Tax Help for Seniors
Published Date: 3/13/2025
Notice
Summary
The IRS wants your thoughts on their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs, which help seniors and folks with low to moderate incomes with free tax help. They’re updating some forms and making it easier to submit info online through a new e-learning system. If you want to share your ideas, send comments by May 6, 2025!
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Free IRS Tax Help for Seniors and Low-Income
The IRS offers free tax return preparation and tax counseling through the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) and TCE (Tax Counseling for the Elderly) programs. These programs explicitly assist seniors, individuals with low to moderate incomes, and those with disabilities.
Submission Moves to Link and Learn Website
The IRS added Forms 13977, 13978, and 14335 to the VITA/TCE information collection and states that the information on the form can only be submitted to the IRS at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-tax-volunteers. This submission process is part of Link and Learn, a self-paced e-learning system, and the form was updated to meet Section 508 accessibility compliance.
Time Burden for Respondents Quantified
The IRS estimates 49,700 total responses for this VITA/TCE collection, with an average of 20 minutes per respondent and a total annual burden of 17,083.5 hours. The affected public is listed as "Individuals and households."
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