We are always looking for volunteers to assist with tax preparation. No experience is required. We will provide all training and you'll have lots of help from experienced volunteers. The work is very rewarding. You not only get to help people who really need your help, but you'll also get to meet a lot of interesting people in your community. In addition, you'll learn a bit about taxes, which could come in handy for yourself and your family.
The YouTube video above provides a great introduction to the VITA and TCE programs. Locally, the VITA program, which targets low to middle income taxpayers is sponsored by the United Way, California Capital Region, which also runs VITA programs in Sacramento, Placer, Amador, and Yolo counties. In El Dorado County the VITA tax preparation site is the Placerville Senior Center.
The TCE program focuses on seniors and is sponsored by AARP. AARP Tax-Aide operates tax preparation sites in El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, Placerville, Pollock Pines, Garden Valley, and South Lake Tahoe.
Except for their target audiences, the programs are virtually the same. AARP Tax-Aide is slightly broader in scope and requires some additional AARP training, but both programs use the same tax preparation software, follow the same IRS rules, and require completion of the same certification tests.
VITA training is held via Zoom on Saturdays, starting in early November and ending before Christmas. We skip the week of Thanksgiving. We expect to hold 6 training sessions for the 2025 tax year. A training session typically consists of classroom lectures in the morning and practice tax returns using the IRS-provided tax software in the afternoon. All sessions are recorded, so you can catch up if you miss one.
AARP Tax-Aide training will be held on November 17, 19, and 21 at the Cameron Park CSD. Attendance at all sessions is mandatory as is completion of assigned homework.
Your training includes topics such as filing status, dependents, income, deductions, and tax credits. The VITA/TCE program is limited in scope by the IRS, so complex tax issues such as depreciation, inventory valuation, and virtual currency are out of scope for VITA/TCE. However, we do go into detail in many common tax areas. For example, under the income section, you'll learn about wages, retirement income, investments, gambling winnings, and other forms of income. A lot of our clients qualify for the Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit, education credits, and other credits so we also go into detail on tax credits.
We use IRS-provided tax preparation software to prepare and e-file the returns. We comply with IRS ethics guidelines and must pass a set of certification tests every year. But don't worry, the ethics standards are all common sense and we'll teach you everything you need to know to pass the certification tests in our training sessions.
You don't need to be a tax preparer to volunteer. We also need client facilitators, quality assurance reviewers, appointment schedulers, and site managers. Client facilitators assist clients with their intake paperwork, manage client flow, keep track of appointments, and generally keep the site running. Many volunteers serve as a client facilitator to test the waters before deciding whether to become a tax preparer.
Interested? Go to https://www.irs.gov/volunteers to sign up. A volunteer coordinator will contact you for more information. Locally, you can click here to send an email for more information. You can also call our appointment line at 530-497-0380 and leave a message. We'll call you back to tell you more about the programs.