 | If your closing time is the same as that of the
site host, remember the people there have worked a hard
day and need to go home; it takes time to pack and tidy
up the place; rushing to clear up causes things to get
misplaced, and harder to find the next time. |
| While you want to be helpful...
 | Resist the temptation and pleas to do that
simple return with only one W-2 just before
closing time; it is usually more complicated than
it appears. A particular taxpayer with one
W-2 had left the country last year and was
back to do taxes and collect the refund - it was
not clear if a 1040 could be filed or if a 1040NR
was required; there are a set of complicated rules
that determine if a taxpayer is a resident for Tax
Purposes, and those rules are defined in great
detail in the relevant IRS publications. |
| Resist the temptation to re-do a tax return
already done on TurboTax. The Taxpayer is
probably knowledgeable enough, and has probably
run into an issue that can best be handled by
someone who has more knowledge than that taught at
VITA. |
|
| VITA volunteer training does not extend to the
complicated returns of High-Income Taxpayers with
complex deductions; VITA emphasizes the various
credits that low income taxpayers are qualified to
receive, not the deductions that high income taxpayers
may want to take. |
| Pre-screening avoids wasting the time of people
with complex returns; better to know that the return
cannot be done at the beginning so that they don't wait
two hours to learn it. |
| Please send more survival hints to
webmaster@www.vita-irs.org |
| If you see a tax identification number beginning
with a 9, it is an ITIN, not a SSN. E-filing this
return will cause it to be rejected. It must be
paper filed. In addition, note that it does not
qualify for the earned income credit. In some
cases, it may not agree with the W-2s that are brought
in by the Taxpayer. If you do not know how to
deal with this situation, please contact a more
experienced volunteer or coordinator who can guide you
through what needs to be done. Don't get into an
argument with the taxpayer. |
