Help working taxpayers get the EITC they've earned. Here, you will find best practices from some of our partners:
- Financial institution
- Educational institution partners
- Governmental agency partners
- Volunteer and community organizations
- Large employers
Best practices from financial institution partners:
- Share stories (sanitized to protect privacy) about customers who used their EITC to create assets
- Promote the EITC as part of initiatives to support low to moderate income individuals, such as low income asset building (Individual Development Accounts), and programs to reach unbanked taxpayers and those using non-banking financial companies (NBFC)
- Electronically provide, Publication 962, Life's a little easier with EITCPDF, to customers
- Offer free financial literacy classes
- Sponsor or participate in virtual or face-to-face financial fitness fairs
Best practices from educational institution partners:
- Feature EITC information on school’s financial aid website
- Promote EITC to working students with children through virtual and actual bulletin boards, flyers, student newspapers, etc.
- Electronically distribute EITC flyers such as IRS Publication 962, Life's a little easier with EITCPDF, to schools in low- to moderate-income areas
- Promote EITC information at public events such as Kids Count conferences
- Promote EITC as part of initiatives to support low- to moderate-income students, such as Upward Bound and Educational Opportunity Centers programs
- Offer incentives to students volunteering at free income tax assistance sites
- Offer incentives to accounting students making community presentations about EITC and other tax benefits for low-income taxpayers
- Offer incentives to advertising and marketing students creating outreach and awareness campaigns for local EITC coalitions
Best practices from governmental agency partners:
- Include EITC messages with public assistance checks or tribal payments
- Include EITC messages with Forms 1099 issued for tax refunds, unemployment compensation, miscellaneous income, etc.
- Include EITC messages in state, county and municipal employees' Forms W-2
- Coordinate EITC communication activities among state, regional, county, municipal and tribal agencies
- Collaborate with other partners to promote state and municipal earned income tax credits, where applicable, in conjunction with the federal credit
- Place EITC information on public transportation vehicles and at bus stops
- Encourage public utilities to include EITC messages in the bills for peak usage months
- Engage incumbent politicians’ first spouses in communication activities
Best practices from volunteer and community organizations:
- Coordinate with local EITC coalitions
- Work with children's advocacy groups and legal services agencies to promote EITC to their clients
- Make EITC a part of asset building workshops
- Host educational events for human resources personnel
- Partner with philanthropic organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, etc.
- Coordinate informational fairs and other educational events to spread the word
- Create and place EITC doorknob hangers on homes in low income neighborhoods
Best practices from large employers
- Post information in lunchrooms and other employee gathering places
- Include information on employee websites and in newsletters
- Enable managers as communicators to carry the EITC message
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Continue to more Tried and True Tips...
- Get started now by forming a partnership with other interested parties
- Plan to participate in EITC Awareness Day by joining interested parties nationwide in generating extensive mainstream and social media activity to spotlight EITC.
- Keep the EITC message alive through the filing season