VOLUNTEER

Danbury VITA is a free, non-profit service to the community and is staffed by unpaid volunteers.

We always welcome new committed volunteers.

Volunteer positions are open for: 

  • Greeters to welcome visitors, manage tax documents, and assign clients to tax preparers.

  • Schedulers to answer phone requests for appointments (can be done remotely).

  • Tax Preparers to work with clients to complete and file their tax returns.

  • Bi-lingual Interpreters to assist clients & tax preparers.

No prior Tax experience is necessary. You will complete online VITA training (with our help), as well as in-person coaching from our Team throughout the season.

Volunteer commitment:

  • 4-8 hours per week (1 or 2 shifts). For 9 weeks (February 7 - April 6, 2024).

Shift Schedule for 2024:

  • Danbury: Mon. 5-9pm Wed. 1-5pm Fri. (tentative) Sat. 9am-1pm

  • New Milford: Wed. 10am-2pm Fri. 10am-2pm

If you are interested, please contact us at Volunteer@danbury-vita.org.  An experienced member of our staff will be happy to discuss with you, and answer any questions you may have.


HOW TO BECOME A DANBURY-VITA VOLUNTEER

TRAINING DETAILS

We are available to help you with any aspect of the Training and Testing.

We can assist you directly (1-on-1), or you can join a group Test-prep session that we host in early January.

Please email us at Volunteer@danbury-vita.org with any questions, or to let us know you are interested.

IRS/VITA online training - Greeters, Schedulers, Interpreters:

Courses:   Volunteer Standards of Conduct. Intake/Interview & Quality Review. (2 short tests)

  • Course materials: IRS Pubs 4961 and 5101 (pdf’s available at irs.gov).

  • Each Test is in IRS Pub 6744. All tests are open book. Passing grade is 80% (8 of 10 correct).

  • Tests are taken on-line at linklearntaxescertification.com.  (You will need to create an Account.)

  • After passing the Tests, proceed to be ‘Certified,’ & e-sign the Volunteer Agreement (Form 13615).

IRS/VITA online Training - Tax Preparers:

Courses:   Volunteer Standards of Conduct. Intake/Interview & Quality Review. (see Greeters above)

Courses: Advanced Tax Certification path (not the Basic path). (1 longer test)

  • On-line courses accessible at IRS’s “Link and Learn” website (https//apps.irs.gov/app/vita/). 

  • Course materials: IRS Pub 4012, VITA Guide and/or Pub 4491, VITA Training (available at irs.gov).

  • All courses are self-study, at your own pace.

  • Advanced Test Q’s are in IRS Pub 6744. Test is open book. Passing is 80% (28 of 35 correct).

  • We recommend that you pre-review your Tests answers with us, as you can only Test twice.

  • Tests are taken on-line at linklearntaxescertification.com.  (You will need to create an Account.)

  • After passing all 3 Tests, proceed to be ‘Certified,’ & e-sign the Volunteer Agreement (Form 13615).

Note for Advanced Test: You will need to access our Tax software program to answer some Test questions.

  • Danbury-VITA uses TaxWise as its Tax-preparation software. (IRS/VITA uses TaxSlayer software.)

  • Our team will train you on TaxWise.

  • Contact us at Volunteer@danbury-vita.org to get a user id for our TaxWise Training ‘client’.