Volunteer FAQs

We ask volunteers to commit to attending one 3-4 hour shift per week during the tax season (early February through April 25).

Most shifts are on weekday evenings and during the day on Saturday and Sunday.

In preparation for tax season, all volunteers take the IRS Volunteer Standards of Conduct training and attend a 1-2 hour orientation session at their volunteer location (tax site) the last week of January. Client Coordinators, Tax Preparers, Quality Reviewers and Site Leadership team members also must take required on-line and classroom training sessions.

Each tax site and shift needs to have a volunteers with a variety of experience and skill levels so we generally cannot accommodate groups; however, some sites and shifts may be able to accommodate small groups. If you are interesting in volunteering as a group, contact volunteer@communitytaxaiddc.org

Tax sites are located throughout the DC metropolitan area. You select your location. We will do our best to ensure that everyone who registers for a site is able to volunteer at their selected tax site.  However, if our sites are not evenly staffed, we may ask some volunteers to switch to another site.

At the Arlington site, transportation is available to the nearest Metro station at the end of the volunteer shift. Transportation is not provided to the other tax sites.

Volunteering in a neighborhood that you have never visited is a great way to get to know a new community and a new part of the city. Most of the tax sites will hold orientation sessions before the official start of the tax season to help volunteers familiarize themselves with the site, partner organization, and neighborhood.

Client Coordinators 

help clients with intake so it is very important to arrive on time. If you aren’t able to be there at the beginning of the shift, please let your Site Coordinator know what time to expect you.

Tax Preparers 

are encouraged to get to the site as close to the beginning of the shift as possible. If work or other obligations force you to arrive later, you are still welcome to volunteer. Please let your Site Coordinator know what time to expect you.

Please contact us at volunteer@communitytaxaiddc.org, or 202-547-7773 at your earliest convenience. We will work with our hosts, partners and volunteers to try and meet your needs.

Anyone can volunteer if they are willing to commit to learning, filling a necessary role at a tax site and meeting IRS established Volunteer Standards of Conduct. If you have prepared your own tax return, prepared returns for others, or have worked extensively with numbers, you should be able to qualify as a tax preparer. We use a computer based software program to complete the tax returns, so you need to be familiar with using a PC. We will provide training on the software package.

All preparers will be trained by Community Tax Aid and certified by the IRS. Knowledge of languages in addition to English, including American Sign Language, Spanish and Amharic are skills as valued as accountancy, if you speak or sign a second language please volunteer and be sure to make note of it when you sign up.

What if I’m not interested in preparing taxes, is there another way I can volunteer at tax time?

Absolutely! We need people to fill other positions as well, including:

• Greeters are the first volunteers to interact with the clients. The greeter greets the clients as they arrive, manages appointments and waiting lists so that clients are served in order, and assists with the smooth operation of the tax site.
• Client Coordinators help clients complete the intake documents and ensure that they qualify for our services and have all the necessary paperwork. After the returns are prepared, Client Coordinators review the outcomes with the taxpayer and ensure that they have copies of all returns before they leave the site.

All new volunteer preparers must attend 3 4-hour training sessions in January.  All tax preparers must pass the IRS certification test.

Returning volunteer preparers who did not certify at Advanced in the past, should attend the Getting to Advanced class. See current-year training information for additional specifics.

Yes. Our training focuses specifically on our clients’ needs, and will introduce you to the TaxSlayer software used to prepare returns as well as our tax site practices.  Previous tax preparation experience is extremely helpful, but will generally not fully prepare you to volunteer at one of our sites.

If you have extensive experience working with low-income clients, or have volunteered at another VITA program and do not want to attend first-year training, contact us at volunteer@communitytaxaiddc.org, 202-547-7773. We will work with you to identify an appropriate training and certification path.

To answer this question, we will first ask you a couple of questions:
• What prior experience do you have with preparing individual income tax returns for low-income individuals?
• How comfortable are you completing state tax returns in DC, Maryland, and Virginia?
• Have you used the TaxSlayer software before?

• We have found in the past that some CPAs may not have dealt with many of the issues we see in low-income individual returns. We ask that all new preparer volunteers attend some in-person training in order to gain a better understanding of the tax site procedures, credits and other issues for low-income individuals, state and local tax issues, as well as training on the software package used at our sites. If you have some relevant VITA/TCE experience, please contact us at volunteer@communitytaxaiddc.org.

After you sign up for a volunteer location and role, you will receive an email with training registration instructions.

All volunteers will complete the IRS Volunteer Standards of Conduct Exam on-line and will be given instructions for doing so. Preparers Reviewers, and Client Coordinators will also take the IRS Intake & Interview training and Exam. Additionally Preparers and Reviewers   will also take the IRS tax law certification exam. The exam will be included as part of the Wrap Up Class for new volunteers. Experienced volunteers who have certified beyond basic in the past can also take the exam online at any time. All volunteers should plan to certify by January 31st, and no later than their first date of volunteering.

The IRS offers IRS CE credits to enrolled agents and registered return preparers who volunteer for a minimum of 10 hours as a reviewer or trainer.

Review the IRS fact sheet for CE credits.

IMPORTANT! If you want to receive CE credit you will need to fill out the required information on your volunteer agreement and you must send email to volunteer@communitytaxaiddc.org letting her know for which activities you plan to request CE credit.

The final new preparer class has time set aside to start taking the exam.  A proctor will be available to answer questions and to help you navigate the software used to take the test.  It generally takes new preparers 3 to 4 hours to complete the exams. If you do not complete the test in class you may complete it at home or attend another class. You will need to score 80% or higher on a particular test to be certified at that level.  When you pass, you will print your Volunteer Agreement.

We require first year volunteers to start the test in class to be able to take advantage of the proctor and we also have virtual drop in sessions where  you can ask questions. You will have two chances to pass your test, so be sure to take your time and answer questions carefully.  The Certification Tests takes between 3 and 4 hours, depending on the volunteer.  You can take the test in one sitting, or save your answers and come back at a later time.

You will need to score 80% or higher on a particular test to be certified at that level.

Contact us at volunteer@communitytaxaiddc.org for other volunteer options.

We will provide training materials, but you should bring notepaper, and a pen or pencil.

We will have laptop computers available, but we encourage you to bring your own computer if it is a PC, or a MAC with the Google Chrome browser installed.

For all-day sessions, you will need to bring a lunch.

For the Certification Session, you will need to bring the IRS materials you received at your training session.

Please note that some of our training classes may take place in secure buildings with controlled access; please be sure to bring a picture ID with you so you can be admitted to the class.