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2. Jessica Delcid | Grant Coordinator
Fiscal Year 2019: Grant to Provide Volunteer Taxpayer Assistance Services
Jessica Delcid | Grant Coordinator
October 23, 2018

3. Jessica Delcid Grant Coordinator
Good afternoon. My name is Jessica Delcid. I am the Grant Coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Revenue. I administer the grant to provide volunteer taxpayer assistance services and I educate volunteers of the VITA and TCE programs on Minnesota tax laws.
If you have any questions throughout the webinar, submit them through the chat feature and send them to all participants and I will answer them at the end of the presentation.

4. Disclaimer
This presentation is for educational purposes only. It is meant to accompany an oral presentation and not to be used as a standalone document. This presentation is based on the facts and circumstances being discussed, and on the laws in effect when it is presented. It does not supersede or alter any provisions of Minnesota laws, administrative rules, court cases, or revenue notices. If you have any grant related questions, contact us at , (toll-free), or

5. Today’s Agenda Grant awards Reimbursement of grant funds
Deadlines and due dates
Monitoring visits
Required Minnesota tax training
Questions?

6. 33 grantees for FY19 Grant Awards
Thank you for taking some time today to join this webinar to learn important details about this year’s grant requirements. This year we have 33 organizations who have been awarded grant funds for Fiscal Year I am looking forward to see how your grant awards help your organizations provide excellent volunteer taxpayer assistance services to low income, elderly, and disadvantaged Minnesotans during 2019.
This year, there were significant revisions to the federal tax laws, but Minnesota’s tax laws did not significantly change. We’ve been updating our tax filing systems and forms to accommodate the differences between federal and Minnesota tax laws. You play such an important role in helping taxpayers file accurate federal and Minnesota income tax returns, and Minnesota property tax refund returns, and we thank you for your participation in the VITA or TCE programs and providing these valuable services to your community!

7. Grant Awards
Grant expenses must fall within these four expense categories:
Equipment and Accessories
Advertising
Salaries
Other Expenses
Grant funds are awarded as a lump sum
Grant funds were awarded as one lump sum to your organization. Reimbursement requests must be separated into four categories (equipment and accessories, advertising, salaries, and other expenses). You may spend the total amount awarded in any of these four categories once your contract has been executed (signed by your authorized representative and the department) through August 30, 2019.

8. Grant Awards Salary funding Cannot be used to pay volunteers
Must be reasonable
Salary funding cannot be used to pay volunteers who are conducting volunteer activities for conducting intake, preparing tax returns, doing quality review, interpreting, etc.
Grant funds used for salaries must be paid to individuals specifically for services performed for the volunteer taxpayer assistance program. You must provide detailed information so that we can verify these expenses when you request reimbursement. You must specify job duties and the percentage of time devoted to the volunteer taxpayer assistance program.

9. Grant Awards Print advertisements must:
Be reviewed and approved by the department before printing.
Be reviewed and approved each grant period.
State “Service made available through a grant provided by the State of Minnesota.”
Be professional and accurate, and represent the integrity and services provided through the volunteer taxpayer assistance program.
If your organization requested grant funds for print advertisements, a copy of the advertisement must be reviewed and approved by the department before printing. Advertising must be reviewed and approved each grant period.
If advertisements are not approved by the department prior to being printed, grant funds for print advertisements will not be reimbursed.
Advertising must include the statement “Service made available through a grant provided by the State of Minnesota.” It must also be professional and accurate, and represent the integrity of the services provided through the volunteer taxpayer assistance program.
You can send your drafts to me as soon as they are ready.

10. Reimbursement of Grant Funds
Payment obligations to government agencies
Grant funds will not be distributed to organizations with a past-due balance to government agencies being collected by the Minnesota Department of Revenue.
We review department records before we reimburse grant funds.
To be eligible to receive reimbursement of grant funds, you must not have a past-due balance owing to any government agencies that is subject to collection by the Minnesota Department of Revenue. We check for any past-due balances before we reimburse grant funds.

11. Reimbursement of Grant Funds
New guidelines for FY19 grant expenses:
Purchase, construction, repair, or rehabilitation of any building or any portion thereof is not allowed.
Purchase of gift cards for volunteer recognition is not allowed.
Grant funds may be used to purchase volunteer recognition items but are limited to $10 per person. 
Grant funds used to purchase food and beverages for volunteers may not exceed $500 for the grant period.
Review the RFP for a full list of allowable and unallowable grant expenses.
This year there are a few new guidelines for grant expenses. Some examples include: (as stated on slide).
These are only some of the new guidelines. Please be sure to review the RFP for a full list of allowable and prohibited grant expenses.

12. Reimbursement of Grant Funds
When can I request reimbursement of grant funds? Anytime after the grant contract is executed and before August 30, 2019.
Organization awarded:
Submit a reimbursement request when:
$5,000 or less
The entire award has been spent.
$5,001 - $20,000
At least $5,000 has been spent.
More than $20,000
At least $10,000 has been spent.
When can organizations request reimbursement of grant funds?
Requests can be made anytime between October 1, 2018 (or when the grant is fully executed) and August 30, However, your organization should generally make requests shortly after you spend the funds and as soon as your organization’s tax sites close.
If your organization is granted a substantial amount of grant funds, we recommend requesting reimbursement in multiple increments (following the guidelines in the table above).
Note: Organizations receiving $50,000 or more in grant funds will have a monitoring visit conducted before final reimbursement is approved.

13. Reimbursement of Grant Funds
Reimbursement request expense tracking sheet
Complete the expense tracking sheet each time you request reimbursement
Requests will not be accepted without an expense tracking sheet
You must include supporting documentation
Organizations will complete a reimbursement request expense tracking sheet that will detail the specific expenses of the reimbursement request. The FY19 reimbursement request expense tracking sheet is available on our grant webpage. (Go out to the website and show the form)
Organizations will include supporting documentation for all expenses within the reimbursement request such as payroll records, timesheets, payment records, itemized receipts, invoices or purchase orders, mileage logs, etc. to substantiate that expenses are reasonable, necessary, and allowable within the guidelines of the grant contract.
General Ledgers alone are not adequate documentation.
Salaries – Include names, position, pay rate, and time allocated to the tax program (if they are involved in other functions of your organization)
Acceptable documentation: Payroll Records (Labor Allocation Detail Reports, timesheets, etc.)
Include receipts, cancelled checks, or a bank statement showing that the expense has been paid.
Documentation must be organized so that it flows in the order that it is listed on the Reimbursement Request Expense Tracking Sheet
Highlight/circle dates and expenses
Organize into one PDF (or as few as possible if a large document)
Requests for reimbursement without proper supporting documentation will not be accepted.
You can always submit reimbursement requests before the due date if you have spent all grant funds.

14. Deadlines and Due Dates
Progress Reports
Due February 15, 2019
Final Reports
Due June 1, 2019
Progress Reports are required for organizations awarded more than $5,000 in grant funds. If your organization was awarded less than $5,000, progress reports are not required.
FY19 Progress reports are due February 15, after training for the 2018 tax season has ended and a few weeks into the filing season.
The goal is for organizations to report more specifically on preparations for the filing season on the progress report and report on how the entire filing season went on the final report.
Final reports are required for all organizations that were awarded grant funds.
FY19 Final reports are due June 1, 2019.
You can still submit reimbursement requests until August 30, 2019 but final reports are now due earlier – June 1, 2019.
You can always submit progress and final reports before their due dates if you feel like you can adequately answer the questions in the reports. Reports must be submitted electronically.
If your organization does not submit timely reports we will not reimburse your organization for remaining grant funds, and you will not receive grant funds for the next fiscal year.

15. Monitoring Visits New grantees Advance payments Random selection
Grants over $50,000
A monitoring visit and financial reconciliation will be conducted in person or by phone during the tax filing season for new grantees, organizations receiving advance payments, random selection, and for grants over $50,000.
A letter will be sent out in February notifying you if your organization has been selected for a monitoring visit. You will have 30 days to provide documentation showing how your organization used grant funds. Once I have reviewed the financials, I will schedule the monitoring visit for March or April, when your site is open. During the visit I will observe your volunteer tax preparation services, learn more about your successes and challenges, and address any questions or concerns.

16. Required Minnesota Tax Training
One representative from your organization must attend one of the required Minnesota tax training webinars.
Dates:
Wednesday, December 12, 2018 – 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018 – 12:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Your organization must attend a required Minnesota tax training webinar we will provide in December. Your organization must have one representative attend for each free tax preparation site you receive grant funding for. The representative for each site should either provide training to your volunteers or be available at that site for technical guidance during the filing season.
There will be a training webinar on Wednesday, December 12, from 9:00 a.m. to noon and a second one on Tuesday, December 18, from noon to 3:00 p.m. Each representative only needs to attend one session.
We will provide more details about this training later this fall.
If no one from your organization attends the required training, we will not reimburse your organization for grant funds, and you will not receive grant funds for next fiscal year.

17. Questions?
At this time I will take any questions you have. Submit your questions through the chat feature and send them to all participants.
All questions received during this webinar are included in the Fiscal Year 2019 Grant – Frequently Asked Questions found under Resources on the grant webpage.

18. Survey We ask all participants to complete a survey.
Your feedback is appreciated.
Your feedback is appreciated. You will be directed to a survey after the webinar. We ask that all participants take a few moments to complete this quick survey.

19. Thank you! Jessica Delcid 651-556-3052 or 1-800-818-6871 (toll-free)
If you have additional questions relating to the grant you can call or me.
The PowerPoint from this webinar will be posted on the grant website.