The IRS is now accepting applications for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grant programs through May 31.
Application packages and guidelines are available on the IRS VITA and TCE grants webpage.
These grants allow eligible organizations to apply for annual funding to provide free federal tax return preparation assistance for up to three years.
- Related article: IRS Opens 2026 Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic Grant Application Period
- Related article: IRS: $53 Million in TCE and VITA Grants Awarded for 2025
In 2025, grant recipients from the two programs helped taxpayers file more than 2.7 million tax returns nationwide. Last December, the agency announced that it had awarded $53 million in TCE and VITA grants for 2025 to organizations.
For the period from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025, the IRS awarded grants to 41 TCE and 315 VITA applicants. The IRS received 445 applications requesting more than $82.9 million in funding.
The IRS established the TCE program in 1978 to provide tax counseling and return preparation to persons that are generally 60 years of age or older.
The VITA grant program was established in 2007 to supplement the VITA program created in 1969. The grant program enables VITA to provide free tax-fling services to underserved populations in the hardest-to-reach urban and non-urban areas to increase the ability of targeted taxpayers to file returns electronically, to enhance training of volunteers, and to improve the accuracy rate of returns prepared at VITA sites, the IRS said.
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Tags: grants, Income Taxes, IRS, Taxes
