IRS Seeks Community Volunteers for the Upcoming Tax Season

Looking for a rewarding volunteer experience? Do you like to help people? The Internal Revenue Service is seeking volunteers for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (VITA/TCE) Programs. The IRS is looking for volunteers to take part in VITA/TCE throughout New Jersey during the upcoming tax filing season.

During the upcoming tax filing season, VITA/TCE volunteers, in community locations throughout the state, help prepare tax returns for older taxpayers, people with disabilities, non-English speaking individuals and other people who cannot afford professional assistance. Volunteer sites offer free electronic filing. The IRS provides VITA/TCE volunteers with free instruction and all the materials needed to prepare basic income tax returns such as Forms 1040EZ, 1040A and 1040. Training for volunteers is generally held at convenient locations or on-line.

These are great programs that help citizens meet their tax filing obligations. In New Jersey during the last tax filing season, 1,500 VITA/TCE volunteers assisted over 55,000 taxpayers at 350 volunteer sites in communities across the state. Who are these volunteers? They are people just like you – members of professional organizations, college students, law and accounting students, or members of other volunteer or community organizations.

Basic computer skills are necessary if you want to learn how to prepare taxes. Additionally, it will be helpful if you have been preparing your own tax returns and are familiar with tax forms and the aspects of electronic filing. Volunteers are needed to provide assistance with greeting taxpayers, interpreting other languages, organizing sites, establishing volunteer schedules, helping to publicize the program, and instructing classes.

If you have a skill and would like to help, the VITA/TCE program can use your help. Local civic and fraternal organizations, educational institutions, churches and social groups can also sponsor VITA/TCE sites. Tax assistance generally is provided at schools, churches, malls, libraries and other convenient neighborhood locations.

Interested in becoming a VITA/TCE volunteer? Does your organization want to sponsor a site in your community? For more information or to get involved, contact Wanda Morgan of the Internal Revenue Service at 973-468-3268 or via email Wanda.D.Morgan@irs.gov .