Earning CRA Services Credit

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Question:

In order to receive the CRA services credit, does the bank employee have to be a direct representative of the bank? Would it count if an employee is volunteering with tax preparation assistance through a non-profit organization?

Answer:

The service must be arranged by the bank and performed as a representative of the bank. From the Q&A:

Section ll.12(i)-2: Are personal charitable activities provided by an institution’s employees or directors outside the ordinary course of their employment considered community development services?

A2. No. Services must be provided as a representative of the institution. For example, if a financial institution’s director, on her own time and not as a representative of the institution, volunteers one evening a week at a local community development corporation’s financial counseling program, the institution may not consider this activity a community development service.

First published on BankersOnline.com 4/13/09