Tax Time Financial Capability
Tax Time FinCaps Referral Program
Tax Time FinCaps Referral Program Overview
Tax Time FinCaps Referral Form (for download)
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Details |
Refer |
Flyers |
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Bank On |
Bank On certified checking and savings accounts are designed to help you make the most out of your money. Select from accounts from mainstream banks and local credit unions, all with features like no overdraft fees and low or no minimum balance requirements. |
Browse accounts at https://bankonmaryland.org/ and assist a client in opening one at the taxsite |
English / Spanish coming soon |
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Maryland Homeowners & Renters Tax Credits |
The State of Maryland offers tax credit programs to lower the cost of housing for certain homeowners and renters. |
Complete a paper application for a client or help them apply online Clients can check eligibility on this website |
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CASH Financial Coach |
Financial coaching offers ongoing support from trained coaches to help you reach your financial goals, such as saving, budgeting, improving your credit, and more! It’s free! |
Support a client in texting CASHTAXES to 646-349-5959 (CEC clients should text CASHHOPE instead) |
CEC Only Versions: |
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Public Benefits Screening |
Work with CASH to access a number of government benefit programs, such as food assistance, help with utility bills and other public benefits. CASH will conduct a screening to determine your eligibility and help you apply for each benefit. |
Help a client complete intake online at https://cashmd.org/benefits-screening/ |
English / Spanish coming soon |
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Share Your Story |
You can opt-in to being contacted about opportunities to participate in advocacy work that can strengthen and improve tax systems. For example, CASH clients’ perspectives have been incorporated into tax credit policies! |
Ask a client to complete this paper Share Your Story form (Spanish) or use the electronic version here. |
Community Resource Navigator Training
Taxpayer Conversations: Talking About Savings
Tax Time & the Racial Wealth Gap
The U.S. tax system is racist. Unfortunately, we’re not exaggerating – it is racist by design, and it gets worse the closer you look.
Research shows that expanding access to tax credits, like the Child Tax Credit, would shrink the racial wealth gap. Fight to close the racial wealth gap in Maryland by protecting tax breaks for Maryland families.
Check out the Racial Wealth Podcast series organized by Prosperity Now for a comprehensive review of the racial wealth divide.
Check out the Prosperity Now Scorecard to see how Maryland compares to other countries.
CASH remains committed to providing opportunities for financial capability at tax time…
According to the Center for Financial Inclusion, financial capability is defined as “…the combination of attitude, knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy needed to make and exercise money management decisions that best fit the circumstances of one’s life, within an enabling environment that includes, but is not limited to, access to appropriate financial services.” In other words, you can think of fin-cap as the knowledge and skills to manage your money, combined with the attitude and belief in your ability to reach your financial goals, all while surrounded by an environment and community that supports these goals and enables your success.
Sound familiar? It should; this definition should make you think of your tax site, and that’s by design! Each year, CASH’s tax clients collectively receive millions of dollars in Federal and State refunds. Each client who receives a tax refund has an opportunity to improve their financial wellbeing by using that money to catch-up on bills, pay off their debt, or save it and put it toward a financial goal, like saving for college or for homeownership. Even when our clients don’t receive tax refunds and instead owe money, we make sure they have the information and resources they need to make tax payments, as well as make the adjustments needed to ensure that they owe less in the future.
When we direct tax clients who are unbanked or underbanked to savings options like U.S. Series I savings bonds or Bank On accounts, we help them avoid having to take their refund checks to check cashers – where they’ll be charged fees. The recently revamped Maryland CASH Academy website offers free resources to help clients hone their financial education skills on a range of topics. Not to mention that everyone in the VITA community provides one-on-one financial education to our tax clients every day when you explain and help them make sense of their tax returns. Tax sites are supportive environments for our clients to share their financial woes or financial goals and get some help and encouragement.
So when you’re working with tax clients this season, be sure to refer back to this webpage and share these resources; and remember the formula for making a difference this tax season is…
$ Money Management Skills + Belief in Self + Supportive Environment = Financial Capability