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6 Eligibility Criteria 2. Tax Compliance The organization performance must be in compliance at the time of application, and remain in compliance for the duration of the performance period with all federal tax obligations; this includes filing all required federal information and tax returns and payment of all federal taxes, penalties, and interest. The Grant Program Office will check the last five years of IRS records to confirm compliance. The entity information shown in the application must agree with IRS records. Organizations determined to be ineligible or not recommended for award are not researched for tax compliance, therefore, existing problems with tax compliance may not be identified on all applicants. Examples of non-compliance would be: • A balance due on the account. • A required federal information return or tax return has not been submitted or processed within the last five years. • An Employer Identification Number (EIN) that belongs to a different entity than shown on the application. If your organization is not required to file a federal information return or tax return, please submit a statement on your organization’s letterhead explaining why you are not required to file. Please do not assume that you are tax compliant. Have the person in your organization responsible for filing returns contact the IRS at 877.829.5500 to check for any monies owed or returns not filed. Please ensure filing requirement information is correct, prior to submitting your application. If you identify any issues with tax compliance, be sure to indicate this on the SF 424, Application for Federal Assistance, block 20, and attach a statement explaining the issue. The SF 424 provides additional space for explaining any federal debt at the end of the form. For example, if a return was not filed because it was not required, include a statement containing the reason, the type of return (i.e., Form 990, 940, 941, etc.) and the tax period. If you are working with someone at the IRS to resolve an outstanding issue, please provide their name, office in which they work, and phone number. Similar statements should be submitted for monies owed or incorrect entity information. Disclosures of situations where federal returns are not filed and/or monies are owed do not automatically qualify you as eligible for this grant. Information submitted about tax compliance issues will be considered on the specific merits of the situation. Applicants MUST submit a Form 14335, Contact Information for VITA and TCE Grant Programs, with every application. Make sure this form is completed in its entirety and the person listed as the tax matters contact on the Form 14335 is authorized to receive and discuss the return information. 3. Timely Reporting Organizations that participated in the TCE or VITA Grant programs in prior years must have submitted all required reports timely as stated in the Management of Funds section of this publication, including financial forms (semi-annual/annual), the final narrative report and all of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Payment Management System (PMS) online Federal Financial Reports (Standard Form 425) that are due quarterly. Failure to timely complete these reports will eliminate the applicant from being eligible for a grant during this grant cycle. 4. Capacity to File Electronically It is the intention that grant recipients electronically file all eligible returns. It is a goal for the TCE program that grant recipients electronically file at least 65% of all returns completed for taxpayers aged 60 or older. Grant applicants must address their capacity to electronically file returns. Capacity to file electronically includes access to the Internet for transmission of returns along with the computers and printers needed to support return preparation. IRS provides the tax preparation software. Monies from the grant cannot be used to purchase tax preparation software. TCE Program Requirements