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Show Volunteers needed to give income tax assistance to low income, elderly Are you a people person one who likes helping others? If so VITA may be just what you're looking for. VITA-Volunteer Income Tax Assistance is a program that uses volunteers from many walks of life to help taxpayers who cannot afford af-ford professional tax assistance in preparing their returns. Volunteers from VITA, which is sponsored by the IRS, help lower income, elderly, handicapped, and non-English speaking taxpayers," according to Luanne Blair, Taxpayer Tax-payer Education Coordinator for the Internal Revenue Service in Utah. She also stated that the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) program needs volunteers. The TCE program primarily helps taxpayers taxpay-ers over 60 years of age. It is sponsored spon-sored by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in cooperation coop-eration with the IRS. The volunteers explain the many special credits and deductions and how people may claim them on their tax returns. In fact, the volunteers will help individuals complete the return, right down to any refund that may be due, Ms. Blair said. "Who are these volunteers? People just like you-college students, stu-dents, law students, housewives, members of volunteer or community commu-nity organizations, businessmen and women. "You name it, Ms. Flair commented. "An accounting background back-ground can be helpful, although it's not necessary," she added. The IRS provides VITA and TCE volunteers with free instruction and all training materials necessary to prepare basic income tax returns. Training generally is conducted at locations that are convenient for the instructors and volunteers. Volunteers are also needed to help in other aspect of the VITA and TCE programs. "Some volun teers organize sites, while others only do publicity for a site," Blair states. "If you have a skill and would like to help with VITA or TCE, we can find a way to involve you in the program," she assured. VITA or TCE programs can be ; sponsored by Local civic or fraternal frater-nal organizations, educational institutions, in-stitutions, churches and social groups. Assistance generally is provided at schools, churches, libraries, li-braries, and other neighborhood locations for the convenience of taxpayers who cannot travel to an IRS office. If you or your organization want more information about the VITA or TCE program, contact Luanne , Blair at 524-6095 or 1-800-424-1040 toll-free, or write her at: Internal Revenue Service, 465 South 400 East, Salt Lake, Utah 84111. |