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IRS SPEC (Stakeholder, Partnerships, Education and Communication) Disability Initiative The SPEC (Stakeholder, Partnerships, Education, and Communication) Disability Initiative educates taxpayers with disabilities on available tax credit, dedication, and free tax help. It also increases their understanding of and access to community-based financial asset-building and financial literacy resources to help improve their economic well-being. Did you know that over 1.5 million people with disabilities do not file their tax return? Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, is the largest federal aid program benefiting working individuals and families. It is a refundable credit, which means that even if someone owes any taxes, he or she may receive cash back from their refund. EITC is an effective anti-poverty tool. In 2006, $42 billion was paid out to over 22 million individuals and families, and helped 5 million people out of poverty. Nearly 25% of people and families are eligible for EITC, but do not claim it. The EITC could be very valuable to the 33% of adults with disabilities that live in households with total yearly incomes of less than $15,000. SPEC is the Outreach and Education function of the IRS Wage and Investment Division. SPEC trains and certifies volunteers to administer the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) and TCE (Tax Counseling for the Elderly) programs using free IRS tax preparation software. In collaboration with the National Disability Institute (NDI) and hundreds of other partners, SPEC is trying to reach out to key customers who are eligible for a number of tax credits and deductions. These customers include families with low to moderate income (under $40,000 a year), people aged over 60, people with limited English speaking skills, and people with disabilities.
SPEC’s goals are to:
Fully integrate persons with disabilities into all existing free tax preparation services by ensuring that all sites are fully accessible and accommodating. These services are important to people with disabilities because:
Provide access to asset-building opportunities. According to the IRS, 58% of people with disabilities are asset-poor, which means that they do not have enough resources to live at the federal poverty level for 3 months. 54% of people with disabilities have no savings accounts and 69% do not have a checking account.
SPEC’s strategy is to:
For more information, please visit
Real Economic Impact Tour:
www.reitour.org
November 2007
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September 2010 Contact Us
Phone: 1-800-395-3372 Upcoming DDPC Meetings September 2010: 9/23/10 - Executive Committee Meeting *Notice* Open Government and the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC). All DDPC meetings are held in Albany, NY unless otherwise noted. Under law, the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC) meetings and DDPC Standing Committee meetings are open meetings. If the public wants to attend, they can attend as observers. Participants may be asked to leave during breaks in the deliberations and when the meeting goes into executive session. If more information, please contact the DDPC directly.
People First Language The DDPC strictly adheres to and encourages the use of people first language. However you may note that in some articles/stories appearing in the E-Bulletin the language used is not always entirely people first. Articles submitted to the DDPC are taken verbatim from the source and are therefore not edited by the DDPC for correct people first language due to copyright restrictions. |
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