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Remember that at some sites there are long lines of people and
not enough volunteers to help the taxpayers. There are
some volunteers who welcome the opportunity to do tough and
complex returns. VITA guidelines indicate that
volunteers should not prepare returns outside the scope
of the training. The Webmaster recommends trying to
help people where possible, keeping in mind that IRS trained
volunteers are a bit more knowledgeable than the
taxpayers whose returns we are preparing, but only when
you are absolutely positively sure of what you are
doing. Examples of challenging
situations:
- A taxpayer comes in with early retirement
distribution and stock sales due to job loss.
This is clearly a complex return (with a Schedule D).
Since the taxpayer is unemployed, where possible they
should be helped. The important thing is that the volunteer is able to
comfortably help the taxpayer; if
not, it is better to point the taxpayer to a more
experienced volunteer or to a different site.
- A taxpayer comes in with a simple return (one W-2,
single, no deductions) with income of $60k. This
taxpayer is clearly outside the general guidelines for
being helped. However, it is likely that the time
taken to prepare this return is very short, and you
will be doing a public service by pointing out that
- it is likely that the California
State Tax withheld plus the CASDI will make it
advantageous for them to itemize deductions
- the taxpayer should read up on tax
rules for the own self-interest
- the taxpayer should consider going to
a paid tax preparer or preparing taxes themselves
- A taxpayer comes in with returns to be
filed for one or more past years. If the
volunteer has the forms and or the software for the
previous years' returns, there is no problem helping
them. If tax is owed, there is no
time limit on how far back to go to file tax returns.
If there is a tax refund, there is a time limit on when
the return can be filed. Most volunteers will
not be able to help such a taxpayer, and the special
accommodation could cause delays. However, there are some volunteers (such as
retired IRS agents) at sites who
are experienced, willing and able to help such
taxpayers. A list of such experienced volunteers
and the sites at which they volunteer is available.
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