Bipartisan legislation offered by U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) to make the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program permanent this week became law as part of a larger, newly-signed tax reform bill.
“I’m proud to see our bill become law,” Rep. Wenstrup said on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law the Taxpayer First Act, H.R. 3151, which includes the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Permanence Act of 2019, H.R. 1875, introduced in March by Rep. Wenstrup and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) to make the federal VITA matching grant program permanent.
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the VITA program offers free tax return help by IRS-certified volunteers who provide basic preparation and filing services to people who generally make $55,000 or less, persons with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers.
“Families across Ohio rely on VITA centers and the thousands of knowledgeable VITA volunteers to help them file their taxes correctly,” said Rep. Wenstrup. “I’m grateful to Rep. Danny Davis for working with me on the VITA Permanence Act of 2019 to preserve these important programs for needy families.”
Nationwide, there are 3,700 VITA sites with 19 of them located in Rep. Wenstrup’s home state, according to his staff, who said the Ohio sites prepared 5,554 returns last year.