ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Department of Revenue is offering a total of $600,000 in grant funds to non-profit organizations that offer volunteer taxpayer assistance services.

This grant provides qualifying non-profits with technology, supplies, and other resources they need to prepare and file accurate, timely tax returns for the communities they serve.

This past filing season, the 35 grant recipient organizations prepared around 25,000 Minnesota income tax and property tax returns totaling nearly $20 million in refunds despite many sites having to close or go virtual due to COVID-19.

The goals of the fiscal year 2021 grant are to encourage organizations to:

• Implement virtual assistance services
• Increase multilingual volunteers at free tax preparation sites throughout Minnesota
• Expand the availability of free tax preparation services

“Our non-profit partners are a vital part of our efforts to reach out to our underserved and culturally and economically diverse communities across the state,” said Revenue Commissioner Cynthia Bauerly. “The goals for the 2021 grants reflect the challenges COVID-19 presented us this tax season and we look forward to working with the grant recipients to offer more virtual options for free tax preparation in Minnesota.”

The department is now accepting proposals for the grant. Grant information and application instructions are available on our website.

Proposals are due Monday, August 31, 2020, and will be scored based on the need for funds, the impact the funds will make, and the performance of the applying non-profit.

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