IRS provides assistance for people with disabilities

Individuals who are blind or visually impaired can download hundreds of the most popular federal tax forms and publications from IRS.gov. These products range from accessible PDFs to e-Braille formats and are accessible using screen reading software and refreshable Braille displays. Visit the IRS Accessibility page to download these forms and publications. Also, view a video that highlights IRS products and services available for people with disabilities.

Tax Return preparation help is also available           

People who are unable to complete their tax return because of a physical disability may get assistance from a local IRS Tax Assistance Center or through a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance or Tax Counseling for the Elderly site (VITA or TCE). To find a Tax Assistance Center near you, click on contact IRS, on IRS.gov and then select contact your local IRS office. You can also find a nearby VITA or TCE location by calling 1-800-906-9887. The IRS sponsors VITA and TCE. Publication 907, Tax Highlights for Persons with Disabilities, explains the tax implications of certain disability benefits and other issues, and is available at IRS.gov.

Visit www.www.IRS.gov and enter “accessibility” in the Search box for more information.  

Beating the February Status Quo

It’s that time of winter when you might not be living up to your New Year’s resolutions. You remember: Eat fewer sweets. Exercise more at the gym. Are you stuck in what I call “February Status Quo?” My take? Replace your unfulfilled resolutions with some economic solutions. In my last blog, I wrote about giving up drive-thru eating. That saved me at least $15 a week. Other suggestions for saving during the late winter months are as simple as walk, talk, and get together, etc.:

Walk

Go grocery shopping with a friend and walk the aisles together chatting and getting your groceries. You’ll save on gas going together and have two pairs of eyes for spotting those supermarket bargains.

Call a few local gyms and find out if they have any 2 for 1 membership deals (you may have to call around). Then grab a buddy and walk the treadmills together discussing how the day went. You’ll split the cost of the gym and be doing something good for your health. (Remember that resolution about going to the gym?)

Talk

Instead of meeting up with friends at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks for a chat, have them over and brew coffee yourself. Talking is just as good at home over Folger’s. And cozier.

Have a call buddy/shopping sponsor to talk you out of ordering that gigantic piece of exercise equipment which you already suspect will ultimately hold and hang clothes in your living room. I don’t buy anything over $25 without running it across my buddy. It helps to have someone who is also on a budget and successfully getting by to be your call-in sponsor.

Get together

Dining out with friends is one of my favorite things to do, but it can add up. Try planning a bi-monthly potluck to replace some of those meals out. Warm up dishes in the oven and gather round your diningroom table. This beats itemizing bills and leaving sizable tips. Also groups help in fighting those isolating winter blues.

Do laundry with someone, share a car to the laundrimat and back for reduced gas prices. Flip the laundry from washer to dryer and fold while you visit. Friendship makes even the laundry more enjoyable.

This last tip was recommended by a friend: hold a Savings Party where like-budgeted pals pool together their own ideas and perspectives for saving money.

Whatever you do, join me in making sure this February won’t be like the others before. Join me in beating the status quo!

Cheers!

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.

Assets & Opportunity Scorecard - Publication of the Week →

Yesterday, CFED released the 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard, the leading source for data on household financial security and policy solutions to combat asset poverty nationwide. The interactive website displays assesses metrics for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia on how well residents are faring and what states can do to help residents build and protect assets.

Some key findings from CFED’s research:

• 1 in 5 jobs in America are “low wage”
• 46% of employers do not offer health insurance
• 55% of workers do not have, or do not participate in, a retirement plan
• 56% of Americans have subprime credit
• 27% of all households are asset poor, meaning they lack the savings or other assets to cover basic expenses for just three months if a layoff or other emergency leads to the loss of income

Check out the scorecard to see how your state did.

MyFreeTaxes.com - Website of the Week →

National Disability Institute’s Real Economic Impact Tour is proud to be a part of Walmart’s MyFreeTaxes collective, along with OneEconomy and United Way Worldwide. The MyFreeTaxes initiative was created to bring free tax prep to low-income taxpayers as well as education about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), along with WIC and SNAP eligibility.

If you earned less than $57,000 in 2011, you have 3 ways to file with MyFreeTaxes: 

• Online at www.MyFreeTaxes.com (in English and Spanish);
• At one of 100 United Way led, community-based tax preparation efforts at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites; or
• At a mobile MyFreeTaxes van event.

If you or someone you know could benefit from free state and federal tax prep (online or in person) visit MyFreeTaxes.com and pass on this info today!

Today is National Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day. 

Did you know that 20% of taxpayers eligible for the EITC don’t claim it! Watch this video from the IRS on the EITC and share it with your friends, family or anyone who you think might benefit. Don’t let that money go unclaimed! 

Spend Some, Save Some - Publication of the Week →

Spend Some, Save Some is a financial education guide published by CFED. The free, easy-to-read guide (available in English and Spanish) walks VITA clients through some important things to consider when they receive their refunds to help them make the most of the money they expect to receive. The guide and the included Savings Plan Worksheet can help taxpayers:

• Recognize the value of using the tax moment to contribute to their short- and long-term savings goals
• Make decisions about how to use their refunds for spending on “must-haves,” saving for the future and spend on “nice-to-haves”
• Get connected to resources like U.S. Savings Bonds, College Savings Accounts, additional tax credits like the Saver’s Credit, Individual Development Account programs and Bank On campaigns

Read more about Spend Some, Save Some at the CFED blog. The page also includes a link to the spanish version of the guide.

MyEmploymentOptions.com - Website of the Week →

Employment Options is a Certified Social Security Administration (SSA) Employment Network for the Ticket To Work program. Its primary goal is to help beneficiaries on disability insurance (SSDI) and supplemental insurance (SSI) find suitable jobs for either part-time or full-time positions. It also helps employers nationwide locate quality, pre-screened applicants to fill work at home jobs. Employers can receive up to a $2400 Tax Credit per employee in the Ticket To Work program.

All services are free to qualified beneficiaries and all employers. The team can help with the Ticket To Work process, offer resources to help in interviewing and finding a job. Get started now and find out if you qualify!

GUEST POST: USF and Best Buddies Team Up for Community Service with REI Tour Partner United Way of Tampa Bay

This guest blog post is contributed by Alexia Barnes, President of the University of South Florida Chapter of Best Buddies.

People with disabilities are too often seen as charity cases and time spent with them is logged as community service hours. But on the University of South Florida’s (USF) biggest day of service, nine students with intellectual and developmental disabilities gave back to the community. Best Buddies is an international organization that provides one-on-one friendships and leadership development for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). USF’s chapter has 130 members and has provides one-on-one friendships for 29 members who have an IDD.

On Saturday January 14th, USF Best Buddies gathered with 3,000 other USF students awaiting their community service assignment. Best Buddies got assigned to the United Way of Tampa Bay, and were happy to see that they were working inside on a cold 45-degree morning. So while other clubs sodded parks or picked up trash on the side of the rode, Best Buddies put informational tax packets together for the United Way.

Our members sat side-by-side assembly-line style to put these packets together. One of our members played music for us on her phone, which provided entertainment and an opportunity for silly singing. At USF’s Best Buddies we strive to give our members the opportunity to be in a laid back setting where they aren’t being judged. At United Way, our members were able to put together 4,600 plus packets in the course of two and a half hours.

As president of USF’s Chapter of Best Buddies I get the opportunity to work with the members of my club that have IDDs on a regular basis and they have impacted my life more than they know. I couldn’t ask for a better job, and am grateful for every moment that I get to spend with this group. I have the honor to see the joy my members get when they are treated as equals in an organization that consists of 80 college students. I am inspired by the empowerment the club brings to my members. The opportunity for our club to give back to their community was one that doesn’t come often, and the joy our members felt to give back ment more to me than helping the United Way.

January Issue of Washington Insider Published

The National Disability Institute’s Washington Insider is a monthly newsletter highlighting key federal policy news related to key NDI priority areas. The Washington Insider will track legislative and policy initiatives in the areas of taxation, asset building, and economic development that specifically impact people with disabilities and are gaining momentum in Washington.

Check out this month’s issue or sign up now to recieve the Washington Insider via email.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is

This year may be the year I resolve to put my grocery shopping money where my mouth is and stop frequenting Taco Bell drive-thru twice (or thrice) a week for their rice and bean burrito.  Not to say that their burrito is evil per se (though it is tasty and addictive).  It’s just not sensible financially when I could be spending about the same on bags of rice and beans and some flour tortillas at my local supermarket and always have these staples on hand at home. 

Remember the old adage about shopping the perimeters only of your supermarket?  There’s something to that. Carefully plotted out, a healthy eating plan can be as inexpensive or more so than fast food where McDonald’s meals can now top six dollars. (I may have gotten the salads, which are also pricey, but I’m an avid scanner of their whole drive-thru menu.)

“It’s a total myth that eating healthy is expensive,” according to dietitian Katherine Tallmadge, author of the book Diet Simple. In fact, she holds, “it’s the cheapest way to eat. The fat, the salty, the sweet, that’s the expensive stuff.”

With my resolution firmly in hand (clutching my reformed grocery list, that is) I did some sleuthing at my local Price Chopper Supermarket and found out that a large bag of potato chips can cost anywhere from three dollars to $5.99.  For the same money, I could buy several pounds of fresh potatoes with nutrients intact and many possibilities for preparation.

So I am now buying things like a lot of quite small and skinless cuts of chicken, those full of protein beans I love (I tell myself, “Don’t head for that drive-thru, Cindy!”) and fruits in season when they’re cheapest not to mention freshest.

Getting on track with healthier eating can save me money in the short term, but it has the potential to save me money in the long term as well.  Studies show eating right and regular exercise can lower prescription costs and medical costs can decrease as well.

Exercise can also improve conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.  That translates into better overall health and fewer doctor visits. 

Well, catch you later.  We might bump carts in the fresh veggie aisle.

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.