by Chuck Rosenberg
——- I started volunteering in the IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, known as VITA, about seven and a half years ago. That might seem an odd retirement choice for an art historian, but I liked working with numbers and had always done my own taxes, so, when Marty Wolfson suggested that I look into joining VITA , I decided to try it out. That turned out to have been an excellent decision.
VITA, which was started nearly sixty years ago, is designed to help low-to-moderate-income taxpayers (generally defined as individuals or couples with an income below $70,000) prepare and file their federal and state tax returns. Volunteers in the VITA program serve in a couple of different capacities. Some act as greeter/screeners (the individuals who welcome clients to a VITA site, assist them in filling out a preliminary intake form, and direct them to an appropriately trained volunteer tax preparer), and others as certified tax preparers.
In order to participate in the program, all volunteers are required to take two on-line, open-book, untimed exams, one on Standards of Conduct and one on the Intake/Interview process. The first exam tests the volunteer’s familiarity with a simple set of ethical rules to which all participants must adhere when interacting with taxpayers. The second tests the volunteer’s knowledge of the procedures used to collect the information required to determine a client’s tax status using a standardized intake form and to determine what level of preparer (Basic or Advanced) should be assigned to assist them. If a volunteer successfully completes both of these exams, he or she can become a certified greeter/screener.
Volunteers who wish to be tax preparers have to pass an additional on-line, untimed, open-book Basic or Advanced exam every year. These examinations test the volunteer’s knowledge of the laws and regulations which need to be followed in order to prepare a complete and accurate federal tax return. Volunteers who pass the Basic test are certified to prepare taxes for individuals or families with relatively simple tax situations (W-2 wages, simple interest and dividends, standard adjustments to income, basic deductions, and common tax credits), while those who pass the Advanced exam are certified to assist clients with more complex tax situations, as well (e.g., with small business or self-employment income, pensions and/or annuities, capital gains from the sale of stocks or a home, and itemized deductions).
There are certain tax situations that are considered out-of-scope for the program, for example, returns that involve trading crypto currencies or options. Clients whose tax returns include one of these “out-of-scope” categories are advised to seek out a professional preparer. Since “out-of-scope” returns are relatively rare in the population that VITA serves, we are able to help the vast majority of the taxpayers who come to us for assistance.
The VITA program has been extremely successful. The tax returns which its volunteers submit enjoy close to a 96% accuracy rate, a rate which is actually higher than that of returns prepared by professionals. A number of things have contributed to program’s success: its volunteers’ training, dedication, and conscientiousness ; a strong culture of mutual support; and a “fail-safe” preparation process consisting of a two-step procedure which entails an initial preparation by a Basic or Advanced preparer, followed by a careful review of the completed return by an experienced volunteer prior to filing.
In order to help new VITA volunteers become certified preparers, each year a team of veteran preparers offers a series of weekly stress-free training sessions at the main library and on-line. These begin at the end of October and run through the middle of January. In addition, one session for greeter/screeners is offered at the same time as the final tax-preparer class. All of these classes are designed to help both new and returning volunteers prepare for the certification exams and the upcoming tax season. The preparer sessions cover an introduction to TaxSlayer (the tax program that VITA uses), the intake process, basic and advanced tax problems, practice tests, a final review of relevant federal and state tax law changes (e.g. the no tax on tips or overtime pay provisions introduced last year), the specific steps required to actually prepare and file a federal and state return, and more.
In addition to these locally-run, in-person and on-line sessions, there are lots of other resources available both for learning how to prepare federal returns and actually doing so. These include VITA-produced on-line tutorials (Link and Learn), a VITA Volunteer Resource Guide (IRS Publication 4012), TaxSlayer prompts and help menus, and, perhaps most important, the advice and support of fellow VITA volunteers.
Last year I volunteered twice a week, once at Tutt library and once at Western library. Each site had one greeter/screener and four preparers. A typical day at these sites lasted about five and a half hours. Sometimes, if the last return of the day proved to be particularly complicated, we might need to stay a little longer. Since each return is allotted one-hour from start to finish, and there are four volunteers at these libraries, the goal is to complete a total of twenty returns each day.
Virtually all of the returns are done with the client present for the entire process . This makes it easier for both the preparer and taxpayer to ask and answer questions. For many people, tax time is stressful, so we try to make the VITA experience not only professional and efficient, but congenial and reassuring, as well.
An important aspect of the VITA program is that the services it provides are offered free of charge. If the taxpayers we serve were to go to a tax professional, the tax return could cost anywhere from fifty to a few hundred dollars (depending on its complexity). For many of these taxpayers, this fee can represent a significant expense. Since one of our goals is not only to prepare accurate returns at zero cost, but also to get our clients as large a refund as legally possible, it is the rare taxpayer who isn’t truly grateful for the service. In fact, at Tutt we have one client who brings us cookies from the bakery across the street after we have finished her return! We can’t accept tips, but cookies …. Well, it would be rude to refuse.
In short, my participation in the VITA program has been a very positive experience. I have made good friends among the other volunteers, have met people whom I would not otherwise have encountered, and, most important, have had the satisfaction of knowing that I am helping members of our community in a meaningful way, particularly those for a whom tax refund is a financial necessity.
The VITA program is administered locally by Goodwill. If you think you might be interested in becoming a greeter/screener or tax preparer, I encourage you to find out more about VITA by coming to an open information session (with refreshments) at the downtown branch of the Mishawaka Library (229 Lincolnway E) on Saturday, October 17, at 10 AM, or by calling Goodwill at 574-800-1361.