Society for Free Tax Assistance: VITA Meet-up Notes

Date: August 26, 2026

Topic: Site operations — greeting, intake & waiting-room flow

Administrative Updates

• The Zoom registration requirement is being turned on after this session — attendees register once for the recurring series, and Zoom will handle reminders and give attendees more control over notification preferences.
• Next week’s session covers appointment management software: we have a SuperSaaS and DaySmart user sharing their experiences. We could use an Acuity user. is welcome to give a short demo (~5 minutes walking through the product, ~5 minutes of Q&A).
• A future session (date still to be determined) will focus on volunteer management software; the facilitator is looking for a presenter using a dedicated volunteer-management tool, such as Salesforce’s volunteer feature.
• A call went out for volunteers to help write or update lessons for ProsperityNow’s VITA Train training curriculum, paired with someone who worked on that lesson last year.

Software Vendor Update

• One attendee had heard, secondhand, that this might be the last year for the current tax-prep software vendor.
• Current understanding remains unchanged from recent sessions: the vendor is confirmed for next year, and a contract bid process is underway in parallel that could open the door to a different vendor in a future season — but no decision or change has been made.

Appointment Models in Use

• Most programs described a hybrid model: appointment-based scheduling with some walk-ins accepted when capacity allows.
• A few programs are purely drop-off/remote: paperwork is reviewed with the client on the spot, then the return is prepared afterward.
• Walk-in-only sites still exist, often serving populations with limited access to scheduling technology. One attendee described converting two large, long-standing walk-in-only sites to a hybrid model (half appointments, half walk-in-ready preparers) after finding pure walk-in scheduling caused front-loaded demand early in the season and a mid-season lull; volunteers responded well to having guaranteed appointments.
• Booking windows vary: one program limits booking to about 2–3 weeks out to reduce no-shows and forgotten appointments, filling openings from a callback waiting list instead.
• Appointment slots are commonly staggered (every 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes) based on volunteer capacity, and adjusted site-by-site as availability changes.

Greeting & Screening

• Common first questions at greeting: Do you have an appointment, and do you have your ID and Social Security card (or an SSA statement)?
• Clients are typically numbered or tracked by arrival/check-in time to preserve fair ordering, even at drop-off sites.
• Several sites skip having clients pre-fill the intake sheet alone when a preparer is immediately free, working through it together instead of making the client wait.

Intake Assistance & Document Handling

• Approaches range from fully self-serve (client completes the IRS intake sheet alone) to fully assisted (a volunteer walks the client through the sheet and reviews documents before handoff to the preparer).
• Drop-off sites emphasized that strong, experienced intake — scanning the intake sheet and checking documents like W-2s and 1095-A/HSA forms on the spot — avoids slower callbacks later over missing paperwork; one attendee estimated intake takes about 8–10 minutes at a drop-off site.
• Consensus: skilled, dedicated intake staff make a major difference for preparers — organized paperwork speeds up preparation significantly, in person and virtual/drop-off alike.
• Several sites use a folder per client, with documents and IDs copied and clipped together in order before handoff.

Consumer-Facing Handouts & Referral Materials

• What’s handed out at greeting varies widely: some sites hand out only the federal IRS intake form; others add a state-specific credit form, a demographic/supplemental form (sometimes tied to funding requirements), and a voluntary satisfaction survey.
• Some programs bring in outside partners on rotating days (benefit-screening forms, homeowner/renter credit help, healthcare marketplace or premium-credit help) and let taxpayers opt into a referral for days the partner isn’t on-site.
• One approach folds referral opt-ins directly into an existing supplemental form (yes/no checkboxes for things like health-insurance navigation or budgeting help) rather than adding more paper.
• Another approach uses one consolidated “asset-building” one-pager covering all financial-empowerment and partner resources, given to every taxpayer, supplemented by a rack of optional partner flyers.
• A consolidated “money menu” one-pager — a short list of the most common referral actions (e.g., a line about direct deposit with a link to open a bank account) — was raised as a possible alternative to handing out many separate detailed one-pagers.

The Greeter Role: Recruiting & Structuring It

• Widely described as one of the toughest volunteer roles — greeters absorb the brunt of turning people away when appointments are full, especially at first-come-first-served sites.
• Recruiting greeters is a recurring challenge; several attendees described “selling” the role to people intimidated by tax prep itself, sometimes as a stepping stone toward becoming a preparer later.
• One attendee is shifting from framing greeting as a fallback option to treating it as an equally important role, and is exploring how greeters with extra capacity could connect clients to asset-building resources.
• One attendee has, in the past, paid for a greeter position at a couple of sites given how critical the role is, while continuing to rely on unpaid volunteer preparers.
• Setting the expectation with preparers up front that they may be asked to greet — and explaining why the role matters — was suggested as a way to build buy-in.
• One attendee is piloting recruiting community members (rather than students) as greeters this year, aiming for one trained greeter assigned to a single site for the full season, with recruiting help from a local volunteer-referral partner.
• Combining the greeter and intake-coordinator duties (and a partner-referral component) into one fuller position description was suggested as easier to recruit for than a narrow role with very few open spots.
• Naming for this kind of role (“navigator,” “financial guide,” etc.) varies across programs and sometimes changes year to year at the same program.

Waiting Area: Signage, Comfort & Appointment Tech

• Waiting-area signage prompting taxpayers to check for commonly missed items (Form 1095-A/marketplace insurance, and knowing last year’s e-file PIN) was cited as directly cutting down on two of the most common e-file rejection causes.
• Background music was mentioned as both a comfort measure and a way to reduce eavesdropping between stations; site managers typically pick it.
• Slideshow/picture-frame displays were tried in the past by at least one program but have since fallen out of use.
• Snacks in waiting areas were discontinued by at least one program due to cleanup issues.
• The drop in cost of online appointment-scheduling tools over the years was noted as a major shift — nearly every program now uses some form of appointment software, except where the population served lacks reliable access to scheduling technology or a site’s host facility requires a different model.

Moving Clients from Waiting to Preparer

• Varies by site: sometimes a greeter walks the next client to an open preparer; sometimes an available preparer checks the list directly or asks the greeter/intake coordinator who’s next.
• Several programs do informal triage — matching complex returns to advanced-certified preparers (e.g., a sticker system marking folders “basic” or “advanced”) or routing specialized cases (e.g., a small trained team for foreign-student returns) to the right preparer.
• Multiple attendees described quietly making exceptions to standard queue order for clients with documented transit constraints (e.g., riders dependent on a scheduled paratransit pickup), without announcing the exception to other clients.
• Consensus: being transparent with taxpayers about why a process works the way it does leads to much better acceptance than clients discovering an unexplained exception on their own — unexplained queue-jumping was cited as the most common source of client frustration.

Next Steps

• Next session: appointment management software — vendor walkthroughs and a discussion of what programs want out of appointment tools.
• A future session (timing still open) will cover volunteer management software, possibly including a presentation from a group in another region.

Date: August 19, 2026

Topic: Site outreach, communication tools & tax-software update

Administrative Updates

• Session notes are now being posted to VITAquality.org
• Starting in September, attendees use the registration on Zoom you only need to register once to be added to the recurring meeting series

Accessibility & Civil Rights Site Visits

• Multiple attendees reported site visits this year from an IRS civil-rights compliance team, checking items such as required signage, physical accessibility (e.g., wheelchair access), and availability of a TTY/relay line for clients who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Visits were generally brief (roughly an hour); in at least one case the site wasn’t open, so the visit was limited to viewing the location from outside.
• Takeaway: Having ADA-compliant facilities is an important goal however we need to balance it with the value of site hosts who have earned trust with hard-to-serve populations — including immigrant communities and other low-trust taxpayer groups — even when those locations aren’t fully accessible.

Framework: Mapping the Taxpayer Experience

• A “taxpayer experience map” — a customer-journey-mapping approach originally developed through a CFPB-affiliated project — was introduced as a way to think through site-operations improvements.
• The approach: identify each touchpoint where the organization interacts with a taxpayer (pre-filing outreach, scheduling, intake, waiting, preparation, review, exit) and ask what the taxpayer wants in that moment, how they typically respond, what the organization wants to happen, and what the operational purpose of that touchpoint is.
• Each touchpoint can also be treated as a possible “conversion” opportunity — a small additional ask, such as opening a savings account or registering to vote.
• The framework isn’t meant as a full mapping exercise for every program, but as a lens for evaluating whether existing touchpoints serve both the taxpayer’s experience and the organization’s goals.

Early Outreach: Getting the Word Out Before Season

• One attendee shared a new printed “free tax prep coupon”/wallet card, to be distributed by the whole staff (not just outreach staff) at community events, workplaces, schools, and other public events. It lists the season start date, income eligibility, a phone number, and a QR code, plus information-and-referral-line details on the back.
• Another attendee is piloting a similar concise business card this year, with a QR code and basic details, to replace bulkier one-page flyers.
• QR codes were seen as useful for trackable, low-cost outreach (most QR-generator tools include click metrics), but attendees cautioned that not everyone knows how to use them — printed materials should carry enough information on their own rather than relying on the QR code as the only source of detail.
• Recurring theme: referral from friends or family remains by far the top way people learn about free tax help, even compared to large-scale institutional outreach. Tangible items that stay in someone’s hand or wallet (coupons, business cards) tend to support that referral effect better than one-time messaging.

Managing Call Volume & Communication Channels

• High call volume in the early weeks of the season — including from people who haven’t yet received their tax documents — was a shared challenge. Some programs turn off voicemail entirely during that window and redirect callers to email.
• One attendee’s program shifted to a text-line option this past season (in response to a staffing gap) and found clients often communicated needs more concisely by text; they plan to keep offering it going forward, alongside phone support for callers who need it.
• Tools mentioned: a CRM platform’s built-in text messaging feature, a separate cloud phone system for calls, and a call-masking app some staff use with personal numbers. (CRM = customer relationship management software; attendees noted it’s only as useful as the information staff actually enter, and programs have to decide whether tax clients share a CRM with donors.)
• A cloud phone system was also described as useful for toggling voicemail on/off by time of season and for basic self-service routing (e.g., “press 1 for site locations”).
• Partnering with a 2-1-1 or municipal 3-1-1 line for overflow call handling was discussed; one attendee said the cost of continuing that partnership had become prohibitive this year.
• A few attendees described building relationships with community partners (utility companies, unions, and newsletter publishers) to distribute canned promotional content; one described utility companies inserting a short, personalized reminder directly into customer bills, positioned to the utility as helping customers keep up with their own payments.

Appointment Prep: The “What to Bring” Checklist

• An updated “Tax Time Checklist” (based on IRS materials, refined from a CFPB resource, and updated with feedback each year) was shared via a group Dropbox folder.
• Distribution approaches described by attendees: reading the list aloud when scheduling by phone, posting it on the organization’s website, texting a shortened link to a PDF version, and including it in appointment confirmation/reminder emails.
• Several attendees noted the value of repetition across channels — reordering the list so the most commonly forgotten item (Social Security cards, in this case) appears first, since missing documents are a leading cause of lost or rescheduled appointments.
• Appointment-scheduling partners (e.g., a call center handling scheduling) can also be given a script that walks through the checklist as part of booking the appointment.

Virtual & Drop-off Filing Considerations

• Attendees briefly discussed how “what to bring” guidance changes for virtual and drop-off filing options.
• One attendee noted that a commonly used virtual-filing platform has improved significantly in recent years at helping clients upload complete documentation, resulting in far fewer incomplete submissions reaching preparers; programs that stopped using it in the past may want to revisit it.

Software Update: Tax-Prep Vendor Contract & Carry-Forward Data

• Client data that carries forward year to year (once a returning client’s prior information is in the system) was highlighted as a major driver of both return quality and preparation speed; one attendee cited a significant drop in e-file rejections after carry-forward data became available.
• Several attendees raised concern about what a future software-vendor change could mean for that carry-forward continuity.
• Current understanding shared on the call: the tax-prep software contract (TaxSlayer) is set through the 2027 filing season; whether the vendor changes for 2028 and beyond is still undecided, per the most recent update from an IRS partner call.
• One attendee with historical background on the VITA program’s technical infrastructure noted that VITA-supporting servers operate under stricter security requirements than the commercial version of the same software, meaning a switch would require a significant infrastructure investment from any new vendor — a factor attendees believe makes a near-term change less likely.
• Attendees also reflected on the prior vendor transition, noting it created some early growing pains, but that the current vendor has generally been more stable during tax season than the platform used previously.

Looking Ahead: Savings Accounts & the Saver’s Credit

• One attendee asked whether other programs are partnering with local banks on outreach materials for a newer type of tax-time savings account tied to a bank partnership; this was flagged as a possible opportunity worth exploring.
• A revised, fully refundable Saver’s Credit for retirement savings was also flagged for the future: starting with the 2028 filing season (not the current one), taxpayers may be able to direct part of a refund into a retirement account and claim a fully refundable credit. Not actionable yet, but worth keeping on the radar.

Next Steps

• Next session continues the site-operations discussion, with more focus on taxpayer-facing handouts/materials, volunteer roles, and how volunteers are used at the site.
• Volunteer and staff job description templates will be shared, along with a possible revisit of a shared repository of past outreach flyers.
• Site-operations topics are expected to run longer than a single session given the amount of ground to cover.

Society for Free Tax Assistance: VITA Meet-up Notes

Date: August 19, 2026

Topic: Site outreach, communication tools & tax-software update

Administrative Updates

• Session notes are now being posted to VITAquality.org
• Starting in September, attendees use the registration on Zoom you only need to register once to be added to the recurring meeting series

Accessibility & Civil Rights Site Visits

• Multiple attendees reported site visits this year from an IRS civil-rights compliance team, checking items such as required signage, physical accessibility (e.g., wheelchair access), and availability of a TTY/relay line for clients who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Visits were generally brief (roughly an hour); in at least one case the site wasn’t open, so the visit was limited to viewing the location from outside.
• Takeaway: Having ADA-compliant facilities is an important goal however we need to balance it with the value of site hosts who have earned trust with hard-to-serve populations — including immigrant communities and other low-trust taxpayer groups — even when those locations aren’t fully accessible.

Framework: Mapping the Taxpayer Experience

• A “taxpayer experience map” — a customer-journey-mapping approach originally developed through a CFPB-affiliated project — was introduced as a way to think through site-operations improvements.
• The approach: identify each touchpoint where the organization interacts with a taxpayer (pre-filing outreach, scheduling, intake, waiting, preparation, review, exit) and ask what the taxpayer wants in that moment, how they typically respond, what the organization wants to happen, and what the operational purpose of that touchpoint is.
• Each touchpoint can also be treated as a possible “conversion” opportunity — a small additional ask, such as opening a savings account or registering to vote.
• The framework isn’t meant as a full mapping exercise for every program, but as a lens for evaluating whether existing touchpoints serve both the taxpayer’s experience and the organization’s goals.

Early Outreach: Getting the Word Out Before Season

• One attendee shared a new printed “free tax prep coupon”/wallet card, to be distributed by the whole staff (not just outreach staff) at community events, workplaces, schools, and other public events. It lists the season start date, income eligibility, a phone number, and a QR code, plus information-and-referral-line details on the back.
• Another attendee is piloting a similar concise business card this year, with a QR code and basic details, to replace bulkier one-page flyers.
• QR codes were seen as useful for trackable, low-cost outreach (most QR-generator tools include click metrics), but attendees cautioned that not everyone knows how to use them — printed materials should carry enough information on their own rather than relying on the QR code as the only source of detail.
• Recurring theme: referral from friends or family remains by far the top way people learn about free tax help, even compared to large-scale institutional outreach. Tangible items that stay in someone’s hand or wallet (coupons, business cards) tend to support that referral effect better than one-time messaging.

Managing Call Volume & Communication Channels

• High call volume in the early weeks of the season — including from people who haven’t yet received their tax documents — was a shared challenge. Some programs turn off voicemail entirely during that window and redirect callers to email.
• One attendee’s program shifted to a text-line option this past season (in response to a staffing gap) and found clients often communicated needs more concisely by text; they plan to keep offering it going forward, alongside phone support for callers who need it.
• Tools mentioned: a CRM platform’s built-in text messaging feature, a separate cloud phone system for calls, and a call-masking app some staff use with personal numbers. (CRM = customer relationship management software; attendees noted it’s only as useful as the information staff actually enter, and programs have to decide whether tax clients share a CRM with donors.)
• A cloud phone system was also described as useful for toggling voicemail on/off by time of season and for basic self-service routing (e.g., “press 1 for site locations”).
• Partnering with a 2-1-1 or municipal 3-1-1 line for overflow call handling was discussed; one attendee said the cost of continuing that partnership had become prohibitive this year.
• A few attendees described building relationships with community partners (utility companies, unions, and newsletter publishers) to distribute canned promotional content; one described utility companies inserting a short, personalized reminder directly into customer bills, positioned to the utility as helping customers keep up with their own payments.

Appointment Prep: The “What to Bring” Checklist

• An updated “Tax Time Checklist” (based on IRS materials, refined from a CFPB resource, and updated with feedback each year) was shared via a group Dropbox folder.
• Distribution approaches described by attendees: reading the list aloud when scheduling by phone, posting it on the organization’s website, texting a shortened link to a PDF version, and including it in appointment confirmation/reminder emails.
• Several attendees noted the value of repetition across channels — reordering the list so the most commonly forgotten item (Social Security cards, in this case) appears first, since missing documents are a leading cause of lost or rescheduled appointments.
• Appointment-scheduling partners (e.g., a call center handling scheduling) can also be given a script that walks through the checklist as part of booking the appointment.

Virtual & Drop-off Filing Considerations

• Attendees briefly discussed how “what to bring” guidance changes for virtual and drop-off filing options.
• One attendee noted that a commonly used virtual-filing platform has improved significantly in recent years at helping clients upload complete documentation, resulting in far fewer incomplete submissions reaching preparers; programs that stopped using it in the past may want to revisit it.

Software Update: Tax-Prep Vendor Contract & Carry-Forward Data

• Client data that carries forward year to year (once a returning client’s prior information is in the system) was highlighted as a major driver of both return quality and preparation speed; one attendee cited a significant drop in e-file rejections after carry-forward data became available.
• Several attendees raised concern about what a future software-vendor change could mean for that carry-forward continuity.
• Current understanding shared on the call: the tax-prep software contract (TaxSlayer) is set through the 2027 filing season; whether the vendor changes for 2028 and beyond is still undecided, per the most recent update from an IRS partner call.
• One attendee with historical background on the VITA program’s technical infrastructure noted that VITA-supporting servers operate under stricter security requirements than the commercial version of the same software, meaning a switch would require a significant infrastructure investment from any new vendor — a factor attendees believe makes a near-term change less likely.
• Attendees also reflected on the prior vendor transition, noting it created some early growing pains, but that the current vendor has generally been more stable during tax season than the platform used previously.

Looking Ahead: Savings Accounts & the Saver’s Credit

• One attendee asked whether other programs are partnering with local banks on outreach materials for a newer type of tax-time savings account tied to a bank partnership; this was flagged as a possible opportunity worth exploring.
• A revised, fully refundable Saver’s Credit for retirement savings was also flagged for the future: starting with the 2028 filing season (not the current one), taxpayers may be able to direct part of a refund into a retirement account and claim a fully refundable credit. Not actionable yet, but worth keeping on the radar.

Next Steps

• Next session continues the site-operations discussion, with more focus on taxpayer-facing handouts/materials, volunteer roles, and how volunteers are used at the site.
• Volunteer and staff job description templates will be shared, along with a possible revisit of a shared repository of past outreach flyers.
• Site-operations topics are expected to run longer than a single session given the amount of ground to cover.

Society for Free Tax Assistance: VITA Meet-up Notes

Date: August 11, 2026

Topic: Recruitment recap & social media outreach strategy

What’s on Your Mind? Updates from the Field

• The IRS has extended its contract with TaxSlayer as the selected tax-prep software for one additional year.
• A formal decision on whether TaxSlayer continues as the software after the upcoming season is expected near the end of the federal fiscal year (September–October).

Recap: Recruitment Basics (Low Cost, High Return)

• Re-engage last year’s volunteers — aim for at least three points of contact.
• Follow up with anyone who has shown interest or volunteered at least once before.
• Ask current volunteers to refer friends and family.
• Stay in regular contact with your relationship manager — quarterly check-ins, more frequent as tax season nears.

Recap: Targeted Outreach & Non-Prep Roles

• Beyond the basics, review each site’s specific staffing gaps and target outreach to fill them; this takes more effort but pays off for hard-to-staff sites.
• Non-preparation roles (e.g., a “financial guide” role that pairs client support with financial coaching) can make volunteering more appealing and add value for taxpayers.

Social Media Messaging

• A shared set of sample recruitment messages was reviewed (e.g., emphasizing free service, volunteer quality, and accessible certification/training).
• Messages were built using a “messaging triangle” framework; programs were encouraged to adapt 3–4 core messages to their own brand and audience.
• A long-standing shared hashtag, #VITAWorks, helps consistent messages surface in followers’ feeds.
• Adding a short recruitment tagline to email signatures was suggested as a low-effort channel.
• Encouraging volunteers to personalize and share a recruitment message on their own feeds was also discussed.

Platforms in Use

• Facebook — most widely used, often paired with event graphics/flyers from marketing teams.
• LinkedIn — useful for reaching working professionals (accountants, attorneys, bilingual professionals) through articles on the value of volunteering.
• Idealist — functions more like a job/volunteer posting board than a social platform; several attendees have recruited site coordinators through it.
• Handshake and Lightcast — used to reach college students via university career-services channels.
• Nextdoor and Front Porch — hyper-local neighborhood apps; flagged as a possibly underused, very localized option.
• Community listservs — described as one of the most consistently effective channels in the field over the years.

Recruitment Events & Outreach Tactics

• Collect registration/interest info early in the year; reuse the list for roughly two follow-up touches before starting a fresh list each season, to avoid appearing as spam.
• University partnerships help generate student volunteer sign-ups.
• “Interest events” (in person or virtual) held before formal training introduce roles and confirm real interest before investing training time. Views were mixed on whether to hold these separately or fold orientation into training — the right approach depends on the program.
• Large combined tax-prep-and-outreach events can generate press coverage, community-partner visibility, and a recruiting boost for the season.
• Press releases tied to recruitment season and events were noted as an effective, low-cost media tactic.

Working with IRS.gov-Referred Leads

• Experiences with volunteers who sign up through IRS.gov were mixed — follow-through rates varied by program.
• Current guidance is that contact information should be shared so prospective volunteers initiate contact, rather than volunteer information being distributed to multiple sites at once (a past issue that caused duplicate outreach). Programs were encouraged to confirm current practice with their assigned relationship manager, since implementation may vary.

Paid Advertising: Lessons Learned

• One program tested iHeartRadio ads and in-theater ads (featuring a local spokesperson); neither produced clearly measurable results, partly because sign-ups funnel through one central portal with no easy way to trace the source.
• Takeaway: campaigns need a clear, direct call to action (“come volunteer”) rather than general awareness messaging.
• Ways to track source effectiveness: unique tracking URLs per channel, or a brief, low-friction post-signup survey question.
• Reminder: “returning volunteer” and “referred by a friend” will almost always be the top-reported sources — that doesn’t mean other outreach failed.

Messaging Framework (Public Tool)

• A five-step message-development tool, available at CFPB.gov (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) under resources for tax preparers, was recommended: 1) what you’re offering, 2) the action you want, 3) your audience and their benefit, 4) the cost/ask and concrete next step, 5) your audience’s context and the strengths/weaknesses of your ask.
• From there, build three core messaging themes to use consistently — not every message needs to appear in every piece of outreach.
• Small volunteer focus groups (8–10 people) were suggested as a lower-cost alternative to formal surveys for testing which messages resonate.

Bulk Email & Text Messaging

• General support for bulk email/text, kept to a small number of touches (roughly 3 messages over 4–5 months) tied to key milestones: registration opens, training opens, last chance to register.
• Opt-out functionality in bulk tools was noted as important.
• Tools mentioned: MailChimp (possible nonprofit discount, unconfirmed), Email Octopus (free tier up to ~2,500 contacts, includes ads on the free plan), YAM – Yet Another Mail Merge (free from a personal account under ~40 recipients/day, small fee above that), and Constant Contact (nonprofit pricing mentioned).

Next Steps

• This session wrapped up the multi-week recruitment discussion series.
• A possible future session on volunteer-management software was floated for early fall.
• Next session shifts to site management — building a practical toolkit for on-site coordinators that complements required IRS training rather than duplicating it.
• Participants were invited to submit topic suggestions by email.

What are you discussing now at the VITA Meet-up?

• Starting this Wednesday, we are discussing site operations using the Taxpayer Experience Map Tool found on CFPB.gov as a framework for discussion.
• Experience mapping helps us understand our process from the taxpayer’s point of view
• We will be discussing the process, volunteer roles, and tools we use. 
• Every meeting, participants share what’s on their mind related to free tax assistance so that we can discuss the most pressing issues first.

What is the VITA Meet-up?

The VITA Meet-up is a weekly online discussion sponsored by JC Craig Consulting.  We meet on Wednesdays at 1:00 pm Eastern Time.

The discussion focuses on the programmatic and operational delivery of free tax assistance rather than the Tax Code and the details of return preparation.

How can one join the meeting?

Contact me at johncharlescraig@gmail.com, and I will forward you an invitation.

Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, has recommended that the IRS review the costs and benefits of delaying refunds payments  until after April 15 in her report to Congress:

The Speedy Issuance of Tax Refunds Drives Refund Fraud and Identity Theft, As More Research Is Needed on the Costs and Benefits of Holding Refunds Until the End of the Filing Season

Most of us in the VITA world are concerned about opportunity of loan products to reemerge created by the February 15 delay. A delay to April 15 would almost guarantee the return of the refund loan and likely create the kind of pay to play system that Nina Olson eloquently argues against.

If refund loans reemerge as a market force, I believe the market will segment itself into two sets of taxpayers a set who pay a premium for tax assistance using a refund advance to receive funds and pay fees with the advance before April 15, and those who use less costly practitioners and online filing services that do not offer a refund advance.  I anticipate that the practitioners offering refund advance will have virtually every customer use it, because the practitioners cannot charge additional fees for the loan.  A practitioner offering the advance must recover the cost of the advance in some other way likely charging higher fees in general.  While the advance drives up cost to the taxpayer, it will not improve the accuracy of preparation that seems to me the definition of a pay to play system.

As the pro bono practitioners, it is probably up to us to make sure the IRS accurately determines the cost to taxpayers of such a change.  If delaying refunds is the best way to protect taxpayer from having their refunds stolen and their children’s identities stolen to make fraudulent claims, the costs may be worth it to the families we serve. Low-income taxpayers are not the priority of the other parties involved, so pay attention to discussions about further delaying refunds make sure other options are assessed.

I may be just trying to hope for a silver-lining with the EITC refund delays, but I wonder if fewer taxpayers will get fewer Automated Underreporter (AUR) CP-2000 notices because of it..  Perhaps, not as many taxpayers will rush to the tax site before they get all their W-2s.  Perhaps, the IRS will have data in time to make corrections before the refund is sent. I suspect the answer is no and taxpayers will come to VITA to file amendments to that return they filed in January for the Refund Advance and to wonder how they are going to pay back the IRS.

I wish that the IRS messaging around the delay really focused on telling taxpayers not to rush and make sure they had all their documents and information in order before they file and not file like you always have.

Many (perhaps most) taxpayers with expired ITINs will not be able to renew them by April 18.

The IRS is projecting that the processing of ITIN renewals during filing season may take 11 weeks. Unless I am mistaken, January 31 is 11 weeks before the filing deadline.  Clearly, many taxpayers with expired ITINs will not be able renew their ITINs before the deadline, April 18. Taxpayers with expired ITIN are still required to file their return or file an extension and pay any amounts due by the filing deadline.

Please don’t turn these taxpayers away they need your help If they don’t file, they may get hit with penalties. Only one in fifty ITINs should be affected, so the impact to your site should be minimal unless you serve a lot of taxpayers with ITINs.

Below I have provided three options, I would consider for a site process when assisting these taxpayers at your tax sites during the tax season:

Suggested Process 1: Volunteers prepare the returns, site holds e-file for later transmittal and files an extension:

When you identify taxpayers with expired ITINs:

1. Prepare the returns as normal, including forms required for e-filing. Preparing the return gives an accurate calculation of any balance due for the extension.
2. Save the electronic copy of return and paper work for later e-file transmittal when the taxpayer informs you that their ITIN is renewed.
3. Taxpayers may receive notification of renewal before or after the 18^th, so you need a system to handle transmittal before and after the filing season.
4. Complete an extension using the information from the completed return.
5. Transmit the extension to the IRS.
6. Inform the taxpayer that the extension is filed and tax due must be paid by the filing deadline April 18.
7. Critical: The taxpayer must pay any amounts due by the April 18^th to avoid penalties. Make sure they understand the extension does not give them more time to pay.
8. Inform the taxpayer that they need to contact your organization when they are notified of their ITIN renewal so you can transmit their e-file and provide contact information.
9. In addition to saving the return for later e-file, provide a copy of the return that taxpayers can submit by mail if they choose to paper file or have difficulty contacting you later.
10. If Taxpayer has not already applied for renewal, prepare W-7 or provide a referral to ITIN assistance.
11. Follow-up with taxpayers who still have e-files on hold in August or September.

Suggested Process 2: Volunteers prepare the returns, files an extension, and provides a paper return to be filed by taxpayer:

Follow steps from Process 1 by preparing a return and transmitting an extension, but instead of saving e-file for transmittal later:

1. Provide the taxpayer a copy of the return so they can file a paper return once they receive the ITIN renewal notification from the IRS.
2. Make sure the taxpayer knows to pay any balance due by April 18^th and that the return should be sent later.
3. Make sure the taxpayer knows to file their return by the Oct. 15 deadline.
4. Provide the correct mailing address for their return.

I would use this process if I lacked capacity to assist taxpayers year-round.

Suggested process 3: Just e-file the returns with expired ITINs.

Sites can simply ignore that the ITIN is expired and file the return. The IRS will accept the e-file and process the return.

1. Complete return and transmit e-file ignoring that the ITIN is expired.
   1. Inform the taxpayer that the IRS will follow-up with letters about the expired ITIN.
   2. If possible, provide a referral to additional assistance with ITIN renewal.

If my site serves few taxpayers with ITINs, I would probably keep it simple and just let the taxpayer know that the IRS will contact them about the ITIN renewal and will provide any refunds due to the taxpayer at some point after the ITIN is renewed.

Please share your thoughts and suggestions.

IRS, Security Summit Partners Announce “National Tax Security Awareness Week” beginning Dec. 5

IR-2016-156, Dec. 01, 201

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners today announced the start of “National Tax Security Awareness Week.” As part of the Security Summit effort, the IRS, the states and the tax community will share a variety of information throughout next week to educate taxpayers on steps they should take to protect themselves from identity theft and tax scams as well as protect their valuable financial data in advance of the upcoming filing season.

The week, which runs Dec. 5-9, will feature a series of consumer warnings and tips that will be released daily and featured on the Taxes. Security. Together. web page and a one-page Publication 4524, Security Awareness for Taxpayer

As I was preparing this post on the best volunteer recruitment tactics that VITA programs tend to under resource, this message appeared in my Facebook feed:

Wanna volunteer with me?!

If you’re feeling powerless given the current political climate and you’re looking for something to do about it, I highly recommend volunteering for a VITA program!

VITA programs are a great way to help members of your community! We prepare taxes for low income individuals and families to help them claim tax credits that exist to help remove them from poverty and to help them avoid predatory tax scams. Additionally, you can meet other volunteers who care about their community (better than MeetUps) and build highly valuable skills (tax preparation training and experience.) I’ve really enjoyed my time volunteering and truly value the compassionate friends I have made through the program.

So… What do you say?! Join us?

The message included a link where I could share contact information quickly in a google form. Think what would happen if you got every volunteer to share a message like this with their friends. How dramatically would your recruitment increase?

Generating more referrals from your volunteers all about providing the tools that make it easy and of course asking them to ask.

• Provide your volunteers a message they can easily forward to their friends, family and co-workers.
• Encourage but don’t require them to customize that message.
• Make the message email, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media friendly.
• Make signing up easy and immediate – a link where contact information can be shared is perfect
• Provide a phone number and email contact for your organization so people contact you with questions
• Be ready to follow-up with new recruits quickly – if you don’t your volunteers will stop bothering to make referrals and may be upset with you
• Provide information on any recruitment priorities. if you need bilingual volunteers or volunteers for specific locations share that with your volunteers. – Don’t encourage recruitment of volunteers you can’t use

The critical piece is to develop and properly resource a referral strategy that makes the referrals a light lift for your volunteers. Some modest expenditure and increased effort around referrals can have dramatic impacts for your program. Remember to put resources in place to respond to these referrals.  If your volunteers make the effort to refer their friends, you need to respond quickly and professionally or risk damaging your relationship with your volunteers.

Look beyond your current volunteers for referrals.  Have a volunteer referral strategy with community partners, site hosts, your board, your staff and your donors. Finally make all your recruitment materials something that can easily be shared and forwarded.

How much effort do you put into recruiting returning volunteers and getting your volunteers to recruit their friends?  By far the lowest cost and most efficient way to recruit volunteers is to retain volunteers from year to year and get those volunteers to refer their friends.  Form my years of providing technical assistance to VITA organizations, they are often failing to articulate volunteer renewal and referral strategies and don’t put enough energy and resources behind these efforts.

In this post, I will focus on renewal and follow-up with a post on generating referrals.  I am distinguishing renewal from volunteer retention which I consider year-round efforts to delight your volunteers that put you in position for successful renewal.  If you are not delighting your volunteers during the rest of the year, renewal will be very challenging.

Renewal Strategies:

1. Have at least three times as filing season approaches that you make discreet appeals to last year’s volunteers to volunteer again, below are examples of timing.
   • When you start registering volunteers for the season
   • When volunteer training begins
   • When it is the last chance to train before the season

Note: Three appeals are the minimum. Most programs communicate with their volunteers too little and not too much.

2. At least once (again a minimum), appeal to former volunteer who did not volunteer last year. The clear majority of active volunteers from one year who do not renew the following year indicate scheduling demands from their personal or work life was the reason they did not volunteer. These factors change from year to year. An email saying, “We want you back” can bring back some great experienced volunteers.

3. Engage your site leaders in encouraging their volunteers to renew
   • Draft an email they can easily forward to their volunteers
   • Provide a contact list of their volunteers from last year
   • Consider reimbursing or otherwise supporting a preseason social gathering

4. Create some benefits for being a returning volunteer, some examples follow.
   • Give returning volunteers a chance register for sites and training first
   • Reserve some training and site slots for returning volunteers only
   • Host a returning volunteer cocktail party
   • Have streamlined training for returning volunteers
   • Provide opportunities for deeper engagement and specialized training

The import thing is that you articulate your volunteer renewal plan and put resources both staffing and financial behind that plan.  A small investment in generating renewal will pay big dividends for your program.