VITA Volunteer Newsletter

Week of February 11th, 2022

Your weekly resource for tax tips, important dates, and other news of note

from the VITA staff!

Tax Updates

Happy VITA Season volunteers!

With almost all in-person sites open and virtual volunteer kickoff complete, we are now getting in the swing of things. More taxpayers are learning how to use our webpage to schedule in-person appointments, and we are seeing more appointments get finalized and returns coming into the Hub every day. Thank you for all your patience and work as we ramped up!

Some notes for this week...

TaxSlayer

TaxSlayer Login: If you are working on a return in TaxSlayer on the efile section, you might have noticed that the preparers information populates in a box on the bottom right hand of the screen. You have the ability to hide this box if you are sharing your screen with the taxpayer and do not want your information visible. Please see this link for instructions: https://vitablog.taxslayerpro.com/2022/02/03/submission-page-ability-to-collapse-the-right-panel/

Promotion/Appointments

If people need more information about available tax prep options or how to set up an appointment, please encourage them to visit our main webpage:https://unitedwaytucson.org/vita/

Virtual Volunteers

We held a kickoff for virtual volunteers that included an overview of processes for this tax season. If you'd like to view the recording from the session, find it here: Virtual Volunteer Kickoff 2.10.22
If you have issues related to setting up Hub accounts or working remotely, please contact Robert - rgallagher@unitedwaytucson.org

New Guides and Documents

As mentioned last week, you can find the Volunteer Handbook, Taxpayer Interview Guide, Hub Guide, and Valet VITA Intake Guide can all be found under 'General Volunteer Resources.' Most are downloadable as Word docs so that you can add your own notes: https://unitedwaytucson.org/vita/links/

Volunteers Needed

The demand for in-person appointments continues to be high - our offices are currently receiving about 50 calls a day inquiring about how to schedule an in-person appointment. If you are interested and able to volunteer at an in-person site, your assistance would be much appreciated! Complete this form with your updated interest and we will follow up with you - In-Person Volunteer Interest - or email vita@unitedwaytucson.org

In-Person Schedules

For Site Coordinators, if you need to change appointment availability (ex. days, hours, or number of appointments available), please contact Alex Casper acasper@unitedwaytucson.org. Alex is maintaining the Calendly pages for all in-person locations.

Volunteer Resources

VITALinks has long been our primary webpage for volunteer tax resources - it's your one-stop reference for tax preparation guides and tools. Resources will be added to VITALinks as the tax season gets going - check out the following links in the meantime:

- VITALinks: https://unitedwaytucson.org/vita/links/ (still has many resources from last year - will be updated soon!)
- 4012 - VITA/TCE Resource Guide for 2021 Returns (digital copy)
- 6744 - Volunteer Assistor's Test/Retest for 2021 Returns (digital copy)
- 4491 - Volunteer Training Guide for 2021 (digital copy)

Note for Remote Volunteers

Do you have everything you need to ensure a productive volunteer experience? Your VITA Team wants to set you up for success, so we are offering equipment rentals for remote volunteers. Please use this link to order the necessary equipment such as laptops, headsets, monitors or hotspots: https://forms.office.com/r/dBceGyWERV

Once complete you will be given a link to schedule an appointment to pick up. Pickup hours are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10am – 3pm. If this window doesn't work, please make a note and we will respond in a timely manner to make other arrangements.

United Way of Tucson Updates

United Way of Tucson is working to build a thriving community by uniting people, ideas, and resources. We envision a community where every child receives a high-quality education from birth to career, every adult has the opportunity to thrive financially and in the workplace and every older person can retire and age with dignity and independence. From birth to career, career to retirement, and retirement to end of life, United Way supports the well-being and success of every person in Southern Arizona.

Promoting VITA

Through United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, households earning up to $73,000 annually can access free, quality tax preparation from IRS-certified preparers. Support is available in three ways in 2022: online through GetYourRefund, DIY self-prep, and in-person appointments. Appointment booking is required for in-person sites and can be scheduled at unitedwaytucson.org/vita.

All in-person and Valet VITA Tax Preparers will be fully vaccinated, including boosters and will be masked. All taxpayers must show proof of vaccination and be masked at all times during any in-person meeting. If taxpayer can’t show proof of vaccination, we encourage them to use the GetYourRefund online service.