Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication (SPEC) 2012 Post-Filing Season May 17, 2012

Filing Season Review Thank You for Your Service!

Filing Season Review Achieved a 92% Accuracy Rate Prepared nearly 3.2 million federal tax returns Completed over 2.5 million state returns 555,213 answered yes to Q12: “Do you or a member of your household have a Disability?” Achieved a 97% electronic filing rate for these returns Returned over $3.7 billion in federal tax refunds Increased Direct Deposit Rate to 67.1%

Filing Season Review Key Site Data – 13,143 Free Sites  496 Facilitated Self Assistance Sites – 9,973 Federal Returns Prepared  62 Virtual VITA Sites – 4,814 Federal Returns Prepared

Filing Season Review Launch of VITA Site Locator on IRS.gov – Provided location information for 4,900 Non-AARP/VITA sites  Widely used by many taxpayers -Exceeded 141,000 page views for Filing Season 2012  Assisted taxpayers seeking free tax preparation -Search by zip code for sites in a taxpayer’s vicinity -Google Map® feature provides directions and map to site  Saves time and eliminates the need to call toll-free  Updates posted twice weekly  Year-round availability

Filing Season Opportunities

7 Grant Program Office – 2013 VITA & TCE Grants – Timelines  Application Period -May 1 st – May 31 st, 2012  Information Conference Calls -May 8 th and 9 th, 2012  Award Announcements -October 1 st, 2012 – Funding  VITA Grant - $12M  TCE Grant – Dependent on FY2013 Budget

Filing Season Opportunities TaxWise Updates –TWO Outages  Contingency Plan for Future Outages –Work Offline solution –Currently in design and implementation stages –Additional details by June 1 –Communication Tool  Dedicated VITA/TCE Page on Support Site –Includes volunteer information (VTA/QSRA, ITLA) –Increases volunteer accessibility to information –Reduces costs for printed volunteer materials –Quality Assurance Monitoring  CCH SFS agreed to quality assurance provision in contract  Enforcement of Performance Standard

Filing Season Opportunities Alternative Filing Methods –FSA/Virtual VITA Expansion – FY12 Actions  SPEC implemented an outreach strategy to promote FSA –Sites added to VITA locator page –Creation of customizable FSA flyer – outreach was conducted with both national and local partners (and other audiences not currently aligned with SPEC)  2012 is the baseline year for Virtual VITA; processes are in place to segment Virtual returns –4,702 returns have been transmitted at 62 Virtual sites this year –FY13 Alternative Filing Methods Outreach and Implementation Strategy

Filing Season Opportunities Product/Training Improvements – Printed Products  Commitment to provide essential products -Quantities will remain at same levels as last year -Encouraging consideration of electronic product initiatives  Enhancements in electronic product navigation -Includes additional indexing and bookmarking tools  Products under consideration for electronic only conversion -Publication 3189, Volunteer e-file Administration Guide -Publication 1084, IRS Volunteer Site Coordinator’s Handbook -Publication 4386A, Tax Year 2011 Partner Resource Package -Publication 4189, VITA/TCE Volunteer Test/Retest Answers – Link and Learn Taxes Enhancement  Instructor PowerPoint

Filing Season Opportunities Thank you. You Make a Difference! Richard Keeling