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  • For Clients

TAx-Time Savings

I have these printed and at my site:
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What I suggest to my clients who get a large Refund:

1. Split Your Refund: put some away in another account for emergencies. I am very passionate about this I have all my volunteers participating.  I even do a raffle of $100,$50,and $25 gift cards. People need to either split their refund or put ALL of their money into a savings account. At the close on April 15th we have a drawing. The volunteer who signed the winning client up gets a $25 gift card as well.

2. Can you use an extra $100 a month? Of course you can, and sop can our clients. I suggest they put $1200 of their refund into a savings account and ask their bank to put a hold on it. With my bank I can have them automatically release $100 a month into my checking account. Can you use an extra $200 a month, then put $2,400 into an account....

3. Adjust your withholding: If the client has withholdings, suggest they adjust the withholding so they have more in their pocket throughout the year instead of the IRS holding their money all year just to give it back (and without interest).

I just make the suggestions and drop it--I am not their mother :)  But most are like: That's a great idea!
From Prosperity Now: Start the Savings Conversations Toolkit
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Save Your Refund (SYR) Program


A very quick and simple way to get clients to start savings. All they need is their Routing and Account numberr for their checking AND their savings account.

How it works: 
  1. The client must split their refund into  2 accounts ( 1 being a savings) or agree to purchase a savings bond for $50
  2. They must save/deposit at least $50 into their savings account or buy a $50 savings bond-
  3. Register the client at Save Your Refund--very QUICK AND SHORT entry form--name, dob, address, refund info, and email
  4. Every week there is a drawing and 10 people win $100 (those not selected stay in the drawing until the end of tax season)
There is also a much larger $10,000 prize--the client just needs to submit a photo with a short caption about what the $10,000 would mean for them. Two (2) people are chosen for this prize.

If you haven't already done so, sign your VITA site up and encourage those clients to save! 
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Go to https://saveyourrefund.com/home/to learn more

They also have promotional materials you can use there as well.

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Contact Me
You can contact me at maryvitataxes@gmail.com 
Please note: I, Mary Meador, AM NOT a certified accountant or tax law expert. I volunteer with VITA providing free tax preparation for individuals and families whose income is less than $66,000 a year. We deal with simple returns at our sites.  I cannot guarantee the accuracy of all the information on this site as tax laws change and I may not have a clear understanding of complicated issues. I am trying to provide basic tax preparation information for our volunteers to get started--remember Publication 4012 is your go-to resource for questions, as well as irs.gov and Publication 17. ​