Tax Counseling for the Elderly | TCE 2018 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for TCE 2018 001

The Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) grant opportunity supports a long-running IRS program that provides free federal income tax return preparation and related tax counseling to people age 60 and older. The program is authorized by Section 163 of the Revenue Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-600), which allows the IRS to enter into cooperative agreements with qualifying organizations to deliver this service through trained volunteers. In practical terms, the funding is meant to cover the costs organizations incur while recruiting, organizing, training, and supporting volunteers who help older adults prepare and file their federal tax returns at no charge.

This opportunity is offered as a discretionary cooperative agreement (rather than a simple pass-through grant), meaning the IRS is not only providing funds but is also positioned to have an active partnership role through program rules, oversight, and technical guidance. The IRS receives a specific line-item appropriation for the TCE program and then distributes those funds to selected recipients to reimburse allowable program expenses tied to delivering local TCE services. The program emphasizes both access and quality: recipients are expected to set up operations that provide efficient, accurate assistance, and to ensure volunteers are prepared to meet federal tax preparation standards.

Eligible applicants include federally recognized Native American tribal governments and nonprofit organizations with IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). A key requirement is demonstrated experience coordinating volunteer-based programs, along with experience in income tax return preparation. This reflects how the TCE model typically works on the ground: organizations build and manage a volunteer workforce, arrange training and certification activities, schedule tax preparation sites or events, and provide ongoing support so volunteers can handle common tax situations faced by older taxpayers. Because the service is delivered by volunteers, the organizational capacity to recruit, train, supervise, and retain volunteers is central to being competitive.

The core service window aligns with the standard federal filing season, with tax preparation assistance primarily delivered from January 1 through April 15 each year. At the same time, the opportunity explicitly allows year-round activities when they are needed to ensure strong service delivery. That can include off-season planning, volunteer recruitment, training and refresher sessions, setting up partnerships and sites, maintaining equipment and supplies, and other operational steps that help ensure older adults receive timely and high-quality assistance when the filing season begins.

From the opportunity details provided, the funding opportunity title is "Tax Counseling for the Elderly," with funding opportunity number TCE 2018 001 and CFDA number 21.006. The closing date listed in the source data is May 31, 2017, and the IRS anticipated making around 100 awards. No award ceiling is specified in the excerpt, which usually means applicants must refer to the full announcement or related guidance for typical award sizes, budget limits, match requirements (if any), and other financial conditions. Overall, the opportunity is designed to expand and strengthen local capacity to deliver free, reliable tax help to seniors by supporting organizations that can effectively run volunteer-driven tax assistance programs in coordination with IRS requirements.

• The Tax Counseling for the Elderly in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Tax Counseling for the Elderly" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 21.006.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-05-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-05-31. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 100 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for TCE 2018 001

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