The United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona is signing up volunteers to provide tax return preparation services to local taxpayers in need.
Now in its 17th year, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, program is a community initiative led by United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona and VITA task-force partner agencies.
Together, the collaborative is the largest tax preparer in Arizona, serving nine of 15 counties.
Volunteer recruitment will continue until January when training begins.
Volunteers who sign up between now and then will first take an orientation course, the first of which begins Oct. 8; the last one will be held Dec. 10. Training of volunteers begins the week of Jan. 4 and will continue until late January and all orientation and training sessions will be conducted via Zoom. VITA services will be offered to the public starting Feb. 1.
The VITA program helps taxpayers meeting certain income eligibility criteria to access all tax credits for which they are eligible, including the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit.
For the 2019 tax year, the VITA program completed 13,894 returns, resulting in nearly $23 million in refunds and credits, including $10.3 million in earned income tax credits.
“Whether you want to be a tax preparer, lead a volunteer team, translate information into other languages, or help organize taxpayer paperwork, there are many ways that folks can help based on their personal interests and talents,” stated Tony Penn, president and CEO of United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.
Individuals interested in volunteering their time to assist taxpayers with return preparation early next year can visit www.unitedwaytucson.org/joinvita to learn more and sign up for an upcoming virtual orientation, or email senior program manager Shea Julian at sjulian@unitedwaytucson.org.
