Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Assistant Manual
2011
This manual is a work product of the Center for Economic Progress and cannot be used, reproduced,
or distributed without the written consent of the Center for Economic Progress, 29 East Madison, Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60602.
Contact taxtraining@economicprogress.org for more information. © 2010 Center for Economic Progress
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MMA Responsibilities 7
Promoting Savings 16
Savings Options 17
Site Orientation 19
The Center for Economic Progress helps hard-working, low-income families move from financial uncertainty to
financial security.
Local in service but national in voice, the Center achieves this mission in three ways:
• We provide trusted tax and financial counseling, giving Illinois families the tools to make sound choices.
• We lead a national coalition of organizations that promote economic progress for low-wage workers and
their families.
• We advance policies and practices to create a financial system that works for all.
The Center for Economic Progress (CEP) has free tax sites in over 30 communities throughout Illinois. Each year,
the volunteers at these tax sites help more than 30,000 people file their taxes and get all the tax credits they’ve
earned and refunds they’re owed. Our free tax sites are more than a place to get taxes prepared. At most sites,
clients can open bank accounts and learn about ways to save.
The role of the money management assistant volunteer is to encourage clients to direct deposit and save a portion
of their refunds, and to serve as a resource to both tax site staff and clients.
Families experience financial security when they have more income and assets (items that can be converted into
cash) than expenses and debt. One of the best ways to make progress toward financial security is to start saving
money.
1. Savings can go toward an emergency fund for unexpected events; such as illness, loss of job, and car
repairs.
2. Savings can go toward a financial goal that could
a. increase a family’s income, such as a higher education degree or certificate, or
b. build a family’s assets, such as a down payment on a house or the creation of a retirement account.
Example: Imagine that a family’s car breaks down as mom is on her way to drop off Sallie at daycare and then on her
way to work. If public transportation is not an option for getting to and from work, mom will need to pay to have the car
repaired. If she does not have any money saved, going into debt is her only option. The average interest rate for credit
cards in Illinois is currently 15%. If the family uses a credit card to pay for the car repairs, they could end up paying an
additional $75* in interest for $500 of car repairs. Over time, interest adds up and slowly erodes a financially secure
future. Moreover, if the mom can’t borrow the money to fix the car, she may lose her job.
* This assumes interest only payments with no reduction of principle for a full year.
Tax time is one of the few times during the year that low-wage workers receive extra money in addition to their
paychecks. These extra dollars (the refund) can be used to save for an emergency or for a financial goal. Thus, tax time
becomes a great time to talk with clients about what questions or needs they may have in regards to making saving a
reality.
How Does a Tax Site Operate?
Roles at the Tax Site
As an MMA, you will be the tax site’s expert on financial products. You will serve as a valuable resource to the site
staff as well as to the volunteer tax preparers. When tax preparers have a question, concern, need assistance, or
just can’t remember something related to financial services, they will call over the MMA to help.
Services: Savings Bonds, Hello Wallet, Advent Debit Card, Savings, Direct Deposit
Tax Preparer
Role: The tax preparer’s role at the tax site is focused on providing the great free tax preparation service our clients
need. Their only responsibilities related to financial services are to purchase savings bonds for clients and identify
appropriate clients to refer to the MMA for additional services.
Services: Savings Bonds
Financial Partner
Role: CEP’s financial partners are banks or credit unions dedicated to helping our clients. CEP carefully selects
financial partners who have products that meet the needs of our clients and who are geographically located near
our tax sites. When you identify clients who would like to open a checking or savings account, direct them to your
site’s financial partner.
Service: Checking or Savings Accounts
FAFSA Preparer
Role: Proper preparation of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form, like a tax return, can be
a tricky process. CEP’s FAFSA volunteers have been trained to help a client through that process and ease the
difficult path to securing resources for higher education. Your tax site will either have a member of the ISAC Corps
(Illinois Student Assistance Commission) or a specially trained FAFSA tax preparer volunteer ready to help. Ask your
Site Manager who your FAFSA Preparer(s) will be and direct any clients interested in pursuing higher education to
Roles at the Tax Site
1. Prep-Use Fields
2. Savings Bonds
MMA Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the money management assistant are to promote savings and direct deposit and to serve as a
resource to both tax site staff and clients.
Intake/ Waiting
• Make a general announcement to clients.
o Introduce yourself and let them know you are a resource if they have questions.
o Explain the services available: FAFSA, Hello Wallet, Bank accounts, Advent Debit Card, Savings Bonds
o Introduce the bank or credit union partner.
• Circulate among clients—talk one-on-one with them about saving and direct deposit options.
Promoting Direct Deposit
Bank Accounts
Encourage clients to directly deposit their refunds into a savings or checking account, or both. If clients do not
already have a bank account, refer them to the on-site financial partner. CEP vets all of our on-site financial part-
ners with the following criteria.
1. Location in neighborhood
2. Comfort and familiarity with needs of client base.
• There should be no minimum balance requirements.
• There should be no monthly fees or service charges on accounts.
• Branch personnel should work to educate clients on the avoidance of fees for overdraft or ATM use.
Waiver of fees incurred as a result of a lack of understanding should take place if there is no pattern or
history of abuse.
• Low cost money orders, bill payment options, and wire transfers should be readily available.
3. Willing to overlook ChexSystems history (except for fraud). ChexSystems provides banks with information
on mishandled checking and savings accounts through a central reporting database (similar to the credit
reporting system).
Direct Deposit Options*
*First priority is to get an unbanked client over to talk with the on-site financial partner to see if they have an
account that will meet their needs.
MMA: Hi, I’m Sonia and I am a volunteer here at the tax site. I’m here to answer any questions you might have about how
to direct deposit your refund or saving a part of your refund. In the past when you have received a tax refund, did you have it
direct deposited or did you receive a check in the mail?
Andy: Usually I received a check. I like having the actual check in my hand.
How do I activate an Advent prepaid debit card?
To complete an Advent debit card (the Get It Card) application through the Advent Direct platform, you must
complete a simple 4 screen process.
1. 2. 3. 4.
efund Amounts
R axpayer
T nter Fees,
E rint &
P
& Options Information & ID Review & Confirm Complete
10
11
Page 1 – Refund Amounts & Options
This is an example of
Page #1 when the client
chooses a Get It Card
for disbursement.
Notes
Enter Estimated
Refund Amount(s)
For VITA sites, the Get It (not required in VITA sites)
Card will be the only
disbursement method
available.
Choose Disbursement
If text and e-mail are Method
provided, then text will
be the default
notification method
used. Enter
Notifications Options
This is an example of
the Page #2 display
when the client
chooses a ‘Group A’
Identification (in which
only one ID is
required).
Enter Taxpayer ID
Enter Taxpayer ID #2
The client-facing
documents will render in
an external browser
window, in PDF form.
Adobe Acrobat is Choose Documents to
required and can be Print
downloaded for free.
Two copies of the client
documents will print. Print Docs in PDF
Account:
17 digit number
‘10’ + EFIN + SSN
Proprietary and Confidential - Advent Financial 9
Clients will need to present one type of identification from Group A, or two types from Group B
Promoting Savings
Our mission is to help our clients move from financial uncertainty to financial security. One of the best ways to
make progress toward financial security is to start saving money.
Tax time is one of the few times during the year that low-wage workers receive extra money in addition to their pay-
checks. These extra dollars (i.e., the refund) can be used to save for an emergency fund or for a financial goal (educa-
tion, home ownership, retirement account). Thus tax time becomes a great time to talk with clients about what ques-
tions or needs they may have in regards to making savings a reality.
16
Savings Options
If the client has… Options for saving
Checking account only • Suggest client open savings account with the on-site partner and split
portion of the refund into newly opened account
• Put portion of refund ($50 min. purchase, $25 increments) into savings
bond, split remainder into checking
No checking or savings, some interest • Refer to on-site financial partner to open savings account, direct deposit
in opening savings account all or portion into newly opened account
No checking or savings, no interest in • Suggest purchasing savings bond(s) ($50 min. purchase, $25 increments),
opening savings account direct deposit remainder of refund onto Advent prepaid debit card
Saving Options
US Savings Bonds
U.S. Savings Bond(s) can be purchased via the Form 8888, Allocation of Refund.
• There is a $50 minimum purchase and bonds are available in $25 increments.
• It can take up to 3 weeks for clients to receive their savings bonds in the mail.
• Series I bonds grow over a period of 30 years, paying both a fixed rate and an inflation rate. A savings bond can
be redeemed for principle and accrued interest after it has been held at least one year.
• The client must split the refund in order to buy a savings bond.
o The refund can be divided between a bond purchase and a bank account or between a bond purchase
and a paper check.
o The refund could also be split three ways, between a bond and two bank accounts.
• Couple filing a joint return can receive bonds in both names.
• In addition to making bond purchases for themselves, taxpayers can now:
o make bond purchases and add beneficiaries or co-owners; and,
o make bond purchases for someone other than themselves.
• Lines 4 – 6 of Form 8888 are used to purchase bonds. When an entry is made on any of those lines, TaxWise
will automatically complete the routing number and account number.
• Interest rate changes twice a year
o On May 1st and November 1st
• Bond rate from Nov 1, 2010 – May 1, 2011 is .74% (fixed rate of 0%)
o If a client purchased a $100 bond today, that bond would be worth about $107 in ten years and $111 in
15 years.
17
o Despite the low rate of return, CEP is still promoting bonds, because:
• bonds have a better interest rate than savings accounts which currently average about .17%
• the low minimum deposit makes it one of the few savings vehicles accessible to low-income
clients (most CD’s start with a minimum deposit of a much larger amount than $50)
Andrea: How does a bond work? Do I have to deposit my whole refund on the bond? If I use $100 of my refund to
get a bond, how much will it be worth 10 years from now? What if I need to cash in the bond? How long will it take
for me to receive the bond?
Hello Wallet
Hello Wallet is an online personal finance management software. Normally $48 / year, but free to CEP clients. Clients
who have a steady income, a bank account, and an email address are more likely to benefit from Hello Wallet than
clients who don’t have these.
• Keeps a client’s financial portfolio summarized and at their finger tips.
• Sets up budgets, debt reduction plans, savings goals.
• Searches over 130,000 financial products to make superior recommendations to clients.
• Provides impartial recommendations of trusted mainstream financial institutions.
o Prevents people from over-paying on financial products.
o Seeks out the most favorable terms of financial product enrollment.
• Minimum penalties
• Fewer restrictions
• Lower APRs
• Higher rates of return
• Records and analyzes spending habits.
• Monitors the rates on your credit cards, mortgage, auto loan, and other products.
FAFSA Assistance
Student aid is available to help clients pay for their education. Many sites have tax preparation volunteers who are
dual trained to help clients complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• Federal student aid can help pay for much or all of our clients education costs.
• Student aid is available on a first-come, first-served basis, so early birds are most likely to receive aid.
• Much of the information on the FAFSA application flows from the tax return.
• Refer students, clients interested in going back to school, or clients with graduating high school seniors to
FAFSA volunteers on-site or to CEP’s FAFSA referral number: 312-630-0248.
18
Tracking Client Participation
Part of your role is to help our volunteer tax preparers keep track of which services our clients choose to
participate in. Keeping track of this information helps CEP evaluate its services and make changes accordingly.
The information is also used in aggregate form to report back to funders.
The preparer use fields of the TaxWise Main Information Sheet are used to track how clients use our financial
services.
There are two questions on the Supplemental Intake sheet that need to be tracked: Question #13 and #14.
• Question # 13 - If the client has a refund, what amount did they save today on-site (i.e., all or a portion of
their refund into a savings account, Bond purchase, or Advent Get It card savings)? If no refund, enter 0.
• Question # 14 - Did the client open an account at the site?
1) No
2) Yes, savings
3) Yes, checking
4) Yes, both checking and savings
5) Yes, Advent Get It prepaid debit card
The tricky part is that the volunteer tax preparer has to remember to go back to the Main Information Sheet to
answer questions #13 and 14 after they have completed the tax return.
Your role is to help tax preparers remember to go back and answer these questions. Hopefully after a few
enthusiastic reminders, tax preparers will get into the routine of answering these questions after the tax return is
complete.
Site Orientation
Many tax sites have a special orientation for all of the volunteers and financial partners who will be working at
the tax site. We strongly encourage you to attend your site’s orientation to meet your site managers, other
volunteers, and to learn the details regarding all of the financial services offered at your site.
19
Supplemental Intake Sheet
Your Name:
Tax Information We need this information so we can prepare your tax return correctly.
During 2010…
How many jobs did you have? How many jobs did your spouse have?
Are you (or your spouse) in the United States on an F, M, J, or Q Visa? yes no
Did you earn any income that was not reported on a W-2? yes no
Were any of your debts or loans forgiven? yes no
Did you or anyone in your family attend college or vocational school? yes no
Did you or anyone in your family adopt a child during the period 2007-2010? yes no
Did you receive a letter from the IRS? yes no
Is anyone in your household interested in applying for student financial aid yes no
(FAFSA) to help pay for college?
How much of your refund would you like to save? $
General Information We need this information to provide better service to all of our clients.
3) During 2010 were you enrolled at any of the City Colleges of Chicago?
1. Yes 2. No
4) Do you have a retirement savings account (pension, 401(k), IRA, etc) of some kind?
This Section
1. YesFor Volunteer Use Only
2. No
5) During the past year did you do any of the following? (check all that apply)
1. Paid to have my taxes done
Volunteer use only:
2. Received a rapid refund
8. Two selected
3. Paid a fee to cash a check
9. More than two
4. Obtained a payday loan
5. Closed a bank account because the fees were too high
6. Declared Bankruptcy
7. None of these
20
Supplemental Intake Sheet
General Information
8) Do you want to attend a training class about taxes and recordkeeping for self-employed workers?
1. Yes - I’m a child care provider
2. Yes - I’m a taxi cab driver
3. Yes - I’m a home care aid
4. Yes - I’m a hairdresser
5. Yes - I’m self-employed doing other work
6. No
9) What was the largest unexpected expense you had during 2010?
1. None
2. Home repair
3. Car repair
4. Medical expense
5. Utility Bills
6. Educational expenses
7. Other
13) If the client has a refund, what amount did 14) Did the client open an account at the site?
they save today on-site (i.e., all or a portion
1. No
of their refund into a savings account, Bond
purchase, or Advent Get It card savings)? 2. Yes, savings
3. Yes, checking
If no refund, enter 0.
4. Yes, both checking and savings
15) How many total W-2s and 1099 Misc forms 5. Yes, Advent Get It prepaid debit card
does the client have for 2010?
Center for Economic Progress // Supplemental Intake Sheet // Filing Season 2011
21
687 E. Linton Ave.
62703