VITA - Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

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Do you want to meet new people? Learn how to do taxes, for free? Help people living in your community? Volunteering at a local free income tax assistance site might be right for you. Below are some descriptions of general volunteer jobs at most free income tax assistance sites. While ALL require that you sign and pass an ethics test, training and requirements each volunteer job will differ.

Greeter

Greeters provides support and assistance to clients and the volunteer tax preparers at free tax preparation sites. Greeters welcome clients, provide required in-take documents and verify that all necessary documentation is on-hand and obtain signatures and other necessary information from the client. Depending on the location, greeters may also screen clients to verify appointment times and types of assistance needed, answer basic, non-tax related questions, provide assistance as needed in completing forms and shows clients the computers to use and how to log on to volunteer assisted self preparation terminals at select sites. As with all volunteer opportunities, Site Coordinators and Quality Reviewers must comply with all standards and expectations for volunteer ethics and integrity, ensures confidentiality of client information, and will not accept - nor permit others to accept - compensation for services provided. This is a great way to help for those who are not able to go through the training to become a volunteer income tax preparer.

Volunteer Income Tax Prepares are the heart of the free income tax program. These volunteers prepare and electronically file client tax returns using on-line tax preparation software. Since understanding of tax law and proficiency in using tax preparation software is required, all Volunteer Income Tax Preparers are trained through a program of on-line and classroom training in order to pass an IRS certification test at the "Basic" or higher level. After preparing a client’s taxes, volunteers preparers will have their work "quality reviewed" by others prior to electronic filing. At many sites across the state, volunteer income tax preparers will be trained to provide basic financial coaching to clients and share information to help clients build financial stability. As with all volunteers, volunteer income tax preparers must comply with all standards and expectations for volunteer ethics and integrity, ensure confidentiality of client information and must not, - nor permit others to accept - compensation for services provided. This is a great opportunity for people that want to learn more about taxes, like using computers, want to learn how to preparer taxes and like to help people!