Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting announced on Wednesday a new agreement with the U.S. military to provide TaxWise® Online 2016 software, pro bono, to volunteer tax preparers at various military bases around the world.

The military's tax programs are overseen by the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, via the Armed Forces Tax Council, and provides free assistance to members of the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, as well as their families.

“This announcement is a strong testament to the commitment Wolters Kluwer makes to working with non-profit and volunteer professional tax preparers, who collectively provide an invaluable service to millions of American taxpayers annually,” stated Julie Peck, executive vice president and general manager, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, US Small Firm Division.

TaxWise Online 2016 represents a secure, cloud-based tax prep platform that offers a number of features including a library of individual and business return forms (both in English and Spanish), return statuses, reports, and client letters, to help preparers best serve their clients.

“I would like to thank the Internal Revenue Service and Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting for providing military tax centers with free tax preparation software to facilitate the efficient preparation of military tax returns," said Samuel Kan, executive director of the Armed Forces Tax Council, per a statement. "Our military members and their families will be able to save a considerable amount of money by visiting our free military VITA tax centers across the world, rather than paying for tax preparation services that could easily cost hundreds of dollars per tax return."

For more on TaxWise Online 2016 and Wolters Kluwer, head to the company's site here.

Sean McCabe is a senior editor with Accounting Today.