Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Center is available February through April for free assistance with the figuring and filing of Federal and State income tax forms for residents of the Mound View Neighborhood. The center, located in the Mound View Resource Center at 1700 B Ave NE (walk in at 306 17th Street NE) is available by appointment and features six workstations that will be manned by fully trained or certified preparers.
The VITA Center will be preparing income tax returns for low to moderate income people/families in and around the neighborhood who meet the guidelines. This free service is provided as part of the Weed and Seed program, which works at building neighborhoods. The students are well trained in basic return applications however business and more complicated returns will be referred to other agencies. Appointments will be required and a list of necessary information will be supplied to the taxpayer.
Volunteers Needed!We are currently recruiting volunteers who can serve as greeters and tax preparers for this center. Interested individuals must be available during tax season, generally between January 31, 2006 and April 15, 2007. Volunteer hours can include days, nights, and weekends.
Greeters: Greeters will welcome people seeking tax preparation, help them fill out questionnaire and make sure they have brought the correct documents with them.
Tax Preparers: Tax Preparers will complete training and pass a test to become a volunteer. You can take the tax course and test online at
www.irs.gov/a-p/vita/index.jsp. Instructor guided training may also be available if there is an interest. This is currently the greatest area of need for the Cedar Rapids VITA sites. On-line training will take approximately 20 hours. If you have experience preparing taxes you may be able to "test out" of the training requirement.
If you would like to be a volunteer, please contact Bruce VanderSander at 319-398-3675, ext 1147 or
Bruce.Vandersanden@iowa.gov.