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VITA @ India Community Center
This site is a brand new site
operating as a startup on Wednesdays, 6-9pm September 16 - October 14 2009. The
final decision on how big the site will be and the dates and times of service
during 2010 will be available sometime in November.
Regardless of the name of the
site, volunteers and taxpayers of all backgrounds are welcome, as long as they
meet the standard VITA criteria.
This site is currently staffed
with some of the volunteers of VITA @ Milpitas Public Library, and hopes to be
able to able to draw new interested volunteers. It is expected that
TaxWise Online will be the software available at the ICC Computer Center, so prospective
volunteers should note this fact when signing up for the site.
Since this is a new site, we do not have established clients, and are
not sure how many to expect. It is expected that there will be many that
come with challenging returns, based on the types of inquiries received so far
about its services. In addition, several tax professionals who were
present during some of the earlier sessions have expressed a strong interest on
volunteering for the upcoming season.
At VITA @ Milpitas Public Library, we turned away
many taxpayers because of our lack of knowledge or experience in some areas
including NR returns, determination of residency status for part-year and
non-resident Ca state returns, international students, and people without
Taxpayer Identification Numbers which required a W-7 to be filed. If there
are any experienced volunteers expert in one or more of these areas, we will offer those
services. At the same time, if any experienced volunteers desire to become expert in one
or more of these areas, we can certainly look into additional training.
It is essential that volunteers commit
to being present regularly during the 4 Wednesdays in February. There is a
certain growth rate in the knowledge and experience of new volunteers that can
be sustained only by regular attendance during that time.
While most volunteers are familiar
with computers, experienced tax preparers with little or no computer background
are welcome and valuable in the role of Designated Reviewer or mentoring new
Volunteer Tax Preparers.
Requirements for new volunteers:
- Must have filed Federal Income Tax and Ca State returns of their own
- Must be familiar with Microsoft Windows XP, and internet
browsers
The site
expects to use TaxWise Online because of the limited number of wired desktop computers.
However, further expansion may require the use of TaxWise Desktop Version
running on desktops.
While it is not necessary to be a
member of the India Community Center to volunteer to prepare taxes,
members of ICC who frequent the facility may find it convenient to add this
among one of their activities at the site.
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