Johnette Hartnett, Ed.D.

1

DISABILITY Program Navigator Second Annual
Training
TAX FACTS Financial Education and Asset
Strategies for Persons with Disabilities

• Johnette Hartnett, Ed.D.
• Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center
• University of Iowa, College of Law
• And
• NCB Development Corporation
• Washington, DC

2
TAX FACTS

• Tax and financial education is the missing link
  for building economic self-directed security for
  people with disabilities.

3
Background

• People with disabilities are three times more
  likely to live in poverty than their non-disabled
  peers.
• Less than half of persons with disabilities who
  own homes claim the home mortgage interest
  deductions.
• 46 percent of people with disabilities have
  savings accounts compared to 54 percent of people
  without disabilities.

4
Background cont.

• 25 percent of people with disabilities have loans
  with a financial institution compared to 36
  percent of people without disabilities.
• 83 percent of people with disabilities said they
  have never claimed an income tax credit or
  deduction related to their employment or
  disability.

5
Campaign Goals

• To build awareness, knowledge, and utilization of
  favorable tax provisions for individuals with
  disabilities and their families.
• To expand financial education and service
  opportunities for individuals with disabilities
  to advance self-directed economic security.
• To link with existing community based coalitions
  to expand their targeted outreach to people of
  low income to include people with disabilities.

6
Projected Outcomes

• Reach one million people with disabilities, their
  families and employers.
• Increase awareness of federal, states, county and
  local partners about the economic needs of people
  with disabilities.
• Improve knowledge and utilization of tax
  provisions by people with disabilities and their
  families.

7
Projected Outcomes cont.

• Increase the ability of tax preparers and
  financial education providers to serve people
  with disabilities.
• Increase knowledge about disability accessibility
  and accommodation issues through the
  dissemination of materials targeting volunteer
  tax preparation and financial education provider
  sites.

8
Projected Outcomes cont.

• Increased participation by people with
  disabilities in asset building opportunities such
  as IDAs, home ownership, education, assistive
  technology, and small business ownership at an
  individual and community level.
• Position people with disabilities and their
  families for the first time in history to access
  mainstream financial and tax knowledge that will
  improve their economic well being for generations
  to come.

9
Critical Strategies

• Awareness and Education
• Volunteer Assisted Tax Preparation
• Expanded Financial Services and Asset Building
  Opportunities
• Technical Assistance

10
Selected Cities

• West
• Oakland, California
• Los Angeles, California
• Denver, Colorado
• Midwest
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Wichita, Kansas
• Flint, Michigan
• Minneapolis, Minnesota

11
Selected Cities cont.

• East
• New York, New York
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Manchester, New Hampshire
• South
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida

12
Collaborators Public Private Partnerships

• Public
• Internal Revenue Service
• Office on Disability, U.S. Department of Health
  and Human Services
• Social Security Administration
• U.S. Department of Labor and
• U.S. Department of Educations Office of Special
  Education and Rehabilitative Services

13
Collaborators cont.

• Private
• National Cooperative Bank (NCB)
• NCB Development Corporation, National
  Disability Institute
• Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center of the
  University of Iowa College of Law (LHPDC)
• National Federation of Community Development
  Credit Unions (NFCDCU)
• American Association of Retired People (AARP)
• American Association of People with Disabilities
  (AAPD)

14
Collaborators cont.

• Private cont.
• Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)
• Arc
• National Easter Seals Society
• United Cerebral Palsy Association (UCP)
• Goodwill Industries International, Inc.
• Rehabilitation Engineering Assistive Technology
  Society of North America (RESNA)
• National Association of Protection and Advocacy
  Systems (NAPAS) and
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

15
Collaborator Activitiesfor Disability Program
Navigators and Local One Stops

• Dissemination of materials
• Outreach and marketing
• Train volunteers
• Serve as tax preparation sites
• Build financial service relationships
• Track impact
• Join community based coalitions
• Remove accessibility barriers to tax preparation
  sites
• Link with other services/ supports

16
Links

• Private Sector Groups
• NCB Development Corporation
• www. MasterMyMoney.org
• The New America Foundations AssetBuilding.org
  www.assetbuilding.org
• The Corporation for Economic Development
  www.cfed.org

17
Links

• Private Sector Groups, cont.
• The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  www.cbpp.org
• National Community Tax Coalition
  www.tax-coalition.org
• CFEDs IDA Network www.idanetwork.org

18
Links cont.

• Research Centers Email Newsletters
• Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center of the
  University of Iowa Disability.law.uiowa.edu
• One-Stop Toolkit www.onestoptoolkit.org
• Resources of the Week e-newsletterwww.onestoptool
  kit.org/resourceoftheweek.cfm
• The World Institute on Disability www.wid.org
• Equity e-Newsletter -- www.wid.org/publications/?p
  ageequity

19
Links cont.

• Federal Government Sites
• The Internal Revenue Service www.irs.gov
• Earned Income Tax Credit information --
  www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id96466,00.htm
  l
• www.irs.gov Life Cycle Series Living and Working
  with Disabilities

20

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The
  Money Smart Program www.fdic.gov/consumers/consum
  er/moneysmart/index.html

21
For More Information

• Johnette Hartnett, Ed.D.
• Vice President
• NCB Development Corporation
• 1725 Eye Street, NW, Suite 600
• Washington, D.C. 20006
• www.ncbdc.org
• Law, Health Policy Disability Center
• University of Iowa, College of Law
• www.its.uiowa.edu/law/
• E-mail JHartnett_at_ncbdc.org