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15 • Whistleblower protections at 41 USC 4712; • Rules governing allowable costs at 41 USC 4304 and 4310; and • All additional applicable statutory requirements and all additional applicable requirements in OMB Circulars, Department of the Treasury Circulars and Federal Management Circulars, including 2 CFR Part 200 As referenced under the SAM section, All entities registering in SAM.gov for Federal financial assistance are required to review and complete the Financial Assistance Representations and Certifications applicable to the entity’s registrations and applications. Applicants must ensure these representations and certifications are current and accurate as part of applying for and receiving Federal awards. A copy of these can be found in Appendix A, Exhibit 2 but the certification MUST be provided in www.sam.gov. Program Coordination To facilitate the management of various program operations, you must designate a Program Coordinator to work with the IRS TCE Grant Program Office and the SPEC territory office(s). A Program Coordinator may be a volunteer or a member of your organization’s professional staff. However, if the coordinator(s) is a member of your staff, no portion of grant funds may be used to pay any portion of their salary. The TCE program was established to provide free tax assistance to individuals age 60 and over (where a joint return is involved, only one spouse need satisfy the 60 year age requirement); the program must be designed and operated primarily to provide assistance to such individuals. However, assistance with respect to Federal income tax returns may be provided to individuals under 60 and assistance with respect to state and local returns may be provided to individuals of any age if: • providing such assistance is entirely voluntary on the part of those rendering it, • no charge is made for the assistance, • assistance to the elderly is given priority and is in no way interrupted or delayed, and • no additional expense is incurred by the IRS. Since the IRS cannot train volunteers to prepare state and local tax returns, grant recipients are responsible for scheduling appropriate state and local tax training, certification of volunteers and for securing necessary tax forms wherever this service will be voluntarily offered. As a program coordinator you need to ensure that volunteers are aware that they should not solicit or accept donations for their tax counseling and return preparation services and they adhere to the ten Quality Site Requirements (see later in this publication for more information) to ensure taxpayers visiting TCE sites receive quality service and accurate return preparation. Volunteers are not to refer a client to a specific paid preparer if the volunteer assistor is unable to help the taxpayer. To prevent the endorsement of a particular paid preparer, the assistor may provide a list of local paid preparers to a client if the individual requires the assistance of a professional. In addition, volunteers perform other relevant duties necessary to comply with the program requirements, program regulations, the Cooperative Agreement, and Section 163 of the Revenue Act of 1978. Any health, accident, and liability insurance for volunteers are the grant recipient’s responsibility exclusively. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities (volunteers/taxpayers) should be provided by TCE grant recipients in cooperation with the IRS as required under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The TCE and VITA programs are two separate programs with a different targeted audience and congressional intent for the program. Separate reports and records need to be kept to ensure that TCE grant funds are being expended solely for the purpose of assisting elderly taxpayers. For volunteers that serve in a dual capacity (volunteering for both programs), volunteer reimbursement expenses need to be appropriately allocated and separated between the two programs. The TCE site(s) must be clearly designated as TCE and publicized for service to the elderly. For more information on operating both a TCE and a VITA site, please contact the local IRS SPEC Territory Manager. Assurances and Certifications