The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs are in need of community volunteers and sites to provide free income tax help across Arizona.
Both groups provide free tax help to individuals and families with low to moderate income, seniors, the disabled and those with English as a second language.
Volunteers are provided training in tax law on current year federal and State of Arizona, Department of Revenue tax returns and on the use of tax software for electronically filing tax returns.
Tax volunteers help determine if a taxpayer is eligible for deductions, allowable expenses and credits. Some tax credits are refundable and may result in or increase a refund if the taxpayer has already overpaid their taxes for the year.
In order to prepare tax returns, a volunteer must pass a competency test. If you don’t pass the tax test, you can still volunteer to welcome taxpayers while providing initial forms and answering general questions.
There is no formal commitment by taking the tax training. Volunteers are asked to donate a few hours of their time one to two days per week during the tax season. Volunteer sites are also needed to host the free tax help being offered to the community.
For more information about being a community tax volunteer or hosting a free tax help site, send an e-mail to TaxVolunteer@irs.gov with your contact information along with the Arizona city and state where you want to become a volunteer or host a site. Your information will be forwarded to the appropriate local IRS office.