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As we rapidly approach the end of the year our thoughts naturally turn to family, friends, holidays gatherings, gifts, traditional foods, decorations, and …. Year-end tax planning.
There are lots of articles that point out the X things you should do at year-end to simplify, optimize, and minimize your taxes. That’s not what this post is about. In this post I want to highlight one of the best government-led programs I’m aware of – the IRS’ Voluntary Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, program.
Through the VITA program, the IRS partners with organizations, large and small, and across the country, to provide free basic tax returns. Partner organizations range from United Way to local churches. They focus on helping seniors, those with incomes below $67,000, the disabled, and taxpayers with limited English skills.
One of the largest partners is the AARP Foundation’s TaxAide program. They sponsor nearly 3,500 locations nationwide. Importantly, you don’t have to be retired, a senior, or an AARP member to use this program. Their website provides guidance on the information you need to bring and a location guide for their sites.
The volunteers who prepare the free tax returns are well trained and pass yearly certification tests. In my experience, they are some of the smartest and most caring people I’ve met. It’s been inspiring to see how hard the volunteer tax preparers will work to help their neighbors. One of the best things about the program is that each tax return is prepared by a certified person, and then independently checked by an experienced preparer.
Although the program is intended for lower incomes, I’ve never seen anyone turned down. If you know someone who would benefit from this program, please encourage them to seek out the service. If you happen to be a math/finance geek who likes to help people, please consider volunteering.
I’ve worked as a Tax Aide volunteer. Excellent program!
Thanks for reading and volunteering.
Thanks for bringing this to the attention of Humble Dollar readers. Even if HD readers don’t need the service themselves, they can certainly tell others who do need it. Also, there are probably a lot of HD readers who have the skills to do VITA work. The IRS provides free training materials online. I’ve been doing VITA work for 10 years, and I find it very rewarding (though not financially of course). The clients are almost always very appreciative. One of the great things about VITA work is that it is time-limited: Most VITA folks only work during tax season.
Brian, thanks for reading, commenting and volunteering. I’m sure we all know someone who could use this vital service, and someone who would be a great volunteer.
My late husband was able to be a Tax Aide for only a few weeks before Covid hit and soon after struck him down. In my favorite picture, and the screensaver on my phone, he’s wearing his denim Tax Aide shirt and smiling broadly. He really enjoyed the volunteering and meeting both his co-volunteers at two different senior centers and the people they served.
Linda. I’m so sorry for your loss. That’s a really nice memory to have.
Rick,
Preparing for my third year of doing returns for AARP Tax-Aide. Here in West Bloomfield, MI, we have our own unique mix of clients. As you stated, we do not have an income limitation, but we do have scope limitations. We try to get those resolved early on with the client. For example, our site can’t do multi-state returns as we have only been trained on Michigan rules. Last year our site’s “normal” client was a single taxpayer (many widows), 73 years old with an AGI of $28000.I also have done returns involving Child Care Credits and did final returns for deceased tax payers. I do enjoy meeting the people and hearing their stories. They are very appreciative of the help we can provide.
Thanks Harold. I’m sure you are a tremendous addition to TaxAide.
Thanks for mentioning that there are scope restrictions. The IRS restricts VITA preparers from certain complicated tax situations, like depreciation, businesses with certain traits, and some others. These limitations are well defined, and we also try to resolve any of those issues upfront. And you are so right, meeting the people and experiencing their challenges, and how appreciative they are is very satisfying.
Many thanks Rick for highlighting the VITA program. I am also a volunteer with AARP Tax-Aide and it provides great assistance for numerous taxpayers and is a very satisfying commitment. I would encourage anyone who is currently able to do their own taxes to consider volunteering for the program. The training is excellent and will also enhance your understanding of your own tax situation.
Thanks Alistair, and thanks for volunteering. When we moved form PA to NJ, the local training was invaluable to me in understanding NJ’s complicated income tax system, and multi-property tax rebate programs.
Thank you Rick. I plan to volunteer once I’m retired; I learned the most folks want to work on the returns during the workday. It will complement my current volunteering as a SHIP volunteer for Medicare, which can often be done at night or weekends. Fall is the busiest time for Medicare questions. P.S. I am working my way through MaxiFi too. 🙂
Eileen, thanks for your volunteer work with SHIP I plan to investigate opportunities with that program. I’d love to hear your experience with SHIP.
Good luck with MaxiFi. Their approach is different than other retirement planning tools and some people struggle with understanding the results. One of the challenges with retirement planning is deciding what variable to focus on, or optimize. MaxiFi gives you a logical result to compare various scenarios against. Good luck.
I went through calculations with Maxifi, I think I basically understood the rationale, but like you said Rick could not wrap my mind around the result.
I wish that Larry Kotlikoff could find someone who is not an economist to explain it in commoner’s terms. If he could I think he could build his client base exponentially.
David, I read his book Spend Til the End before I started using the software. It helped me a lot in understanding the approach. His website has a variety of use cases that also help in understanding the approach. My layman’s understanding of the underlying economic theory is that rational people should make decisions that maximize their standard of living (utility in economic terms) over the course of their lives, effectively “smoothing” their consumption over their life. It’s a simple and rational idea but hard to implement. Good luck.
Thanks for the tip Rick. I just ordered a used copy. At this time next year I will be scheduled to perform my biannual Monte Carlo. Was pondering whether to use Boldin (formerly New Retirement), or Larry’s sites. Will read book and decide.
Rick, thanks for highlighting this program. And thanks for all the work you’ve contributed to it as a volunteer.
You are welcome Andrew. I have found that many folks are unaware of the program, or think they aren’t eligible.
Thanks for your VITA volunteering Rick.
I would add that there is another free tax service for our active duty military.
https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/taxes/making-tax-filing-simple/
Bill, thanks for the important information. I believe VITA has a certification for military taxpayers, but the areas I worked in did not have a need for it I would love to find a way to help our military.
Thanks for this, Rick. Our daughter worked for this program also when she was getting her accounting degree. It is a good program. Chris
Good for your daughter. That’s great experience for a young person.
Rick, Although not my best subject, Math always appealed to me because of its reliance on purely logical reasoning. And, as investors, we should all have some knowledge of how taxes affect our income.
I enjoyed my volunteer days as a tax preparer for both VITA and TCE. I learned a lot through helping others,
You are a good example of the skills a tax preparer should be; patient, a good communicator, math skills, and willingness to help others.
one thing I’m envious about..you previously posted about the goodies you were treated to
by the seniors. I never had that good fortune.
I was offered money which of course I never took. One woman had the bills in her hand. I asked her if her mother was living—I then asked her to give money to her mother..she said her mother could use it. That was thanks enough for me.
Thanks Marjorie for the kind words. I’d bet you were an awesome, caring volunteer.
We’ve been offered a few dollars occasionally, and someone left a $20 this year. A few people have left gift cards. We donate all of it to a local Monmouth County homeless shelter. We have eaten the cookies, and one couple brought fresh hot croissants from a local patisserie – they were amazing.
I’m looking forward to my first year as a TaxAide volunteer in beautiful downtown Bowling Green Ohio. I’m told I get to eat at the senior center on days that I work…. Who says there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch!
Dan, I look forward to hearing your stories. I worked at a senior center in Cape May County, NJ. We got some left over snacks, but not the meal.
Me too, Rick. I helped cook lunches once a week at a senior center in Half Moon Bay, California. I got cookies, that’s all.
Now I’m in Washington state delivering Meals on Wheels. No better feeling than helping somebody who needs it.
Mike, good for you. BTW, Half Moon Bay is one of my favorite places in CA. I remember leaving Sunnyvale, Ca on a Saturday in June about 1 PM. It was 90 F in the valley. By the time I got to Half Moon it was maybe 60 F. It was my first experience in the amazing climate change in that region.
Thanks for the shout out to this program Rick. I might do it if we’re ever in one place at tax season.
You are welcome. If you can help some folks find the program you will be helping a lot.