Upstate Community Groups Need Tax Volunteers

Community groups in the Buffalo, N.Y., area seek volunteers to provide tax assistance to older taxpayers, people with disabilities and other people who cannot afford professional tax-preparation assistance. Free training for volunteers aged 16 to 80 starts this month and runs through January.

Volunteers are generally needed to prepare taxes, instruct classes, review prepared returns, greet customers, provide publicity and perform clerical duties.

The community groups organizing the volunteers have partnered with the Internal Revenue Service through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs.

“The VITA program provides those eligible to get the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)—an important refundable credit—a way to have their tax returns prepared free,” said Thomas A. Kerr, IRS territory manager, in an IRS news release.

“There are millions of dollars that come into the community each year in the form of EITC dollars,” Kerr added. “Yet, there are millions more that go unclaimed because individuals do not file a tax return.”

It has become a routine part of tax season for members of the New York State Society of CPAs to hold volunteer tax help hotlines in conjunction with local newspapers like the New York Daily News, the Journal News (Westchester) and the Post-Standard (Syracuse). NYSSCPA volunteers typically field upwards of 1,000 calls each filing season.

“The callers have a variety of questions, from whether something is taxable as income, to how to handle a gift transfer,” Daily News hotline volunteer Peter Chen said about his volunteer experience in 2003. “It was very satisfying for me to be doing something for the community.”

The IRS reaches out to local and civic organizations, churches, social groups and educational institutions for volunteers. College students get invaluable tax-preparation experience that they might not get in the classroom. They have the opportunity to prepare and electronically file basic income tax returns such as forms 1040EZ, 1040A and 1040.

Last year volunteers in upstate New York prepared nearly 28,000 returns. Kerr hopes for an even greater impact this filing season.

For more information, contact the IRS—VITA/TCE program coordinator by Nov. 15, by phone at 716-686-4777 or by e-mail at SPEC.Buffalo@irs.gov.