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October 2005

VITA is now VRPP! After 30 years as VITA, the organization is now renamed Volunteer Return Preparation Program (VRPP). Other interpretations of VRPP included here.

May 2006

Owing to the popular name brand recognition that VITA enjoyed, it now appears that VITA will remain VITA, a part of VRPP. On May 18, 2006 a search on www.irs.gov for "Volunteer Return Preparation Program" returned 9281 results and for "VRPP", 241 results. The results relate to the training materials, testing, quality and a wealth of other information where these terms are used. No definitive description about VRPP itself was found within the first 30 results, so here is an informal and unofficial description.

VRPP appears to be the name given to an organization that uses volunteer power, and has four main components: (1) VITA - Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (2) Military VITA - same as (1) but focused on Military personnel (3) TCE - Tax Counseling for the Elderly, and (4) AARP - American Association of Retired persons.

December 2006

Because of confusion in headquarters and field offices, SPEC directors have now issued an official clarification. It appears that the acronym will no longer be used to refer to volunteer programs as initially intended, and only used to refer to VRPP Quality and VRPP QIP (quality improvement program). More details available here.

February 2009

On February 27, 2008 a search on www.irs.gov for "Volunteer Return Preparation Program" yielded 21 results and for "VRPP", 5 results. One result was the definition of VRPP in "Helpful Definitions and Acronyms" close to very short definitions of VITA and TCE.

TCE – Tax Counseling for the Elderly – A program run by trained volunteers, offering free tax preparation services to people 60 years or older.

VITA – Volunteer Income Tax Assistance – A program run by trained volunteers offering free tax preparation services to low-income taxpayers.

VRPP – Volunteer Return Preparation Programs – Programs that provide free tax return preparation assistance, e.g. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE).

Information on this site is obtained from sources considered reliable, but not guaranteed accurate. The purpose is to inform only; for advice and decisions, please refer to IRS website http://www.irs.gov. Comments regarding this web site should be directed to webmaster@vita-volunteers.org. Privacy Policy. Copyright © 2003-2009 vita-volunteers.org. All rights reserved.
Last modified: 10/28/09.