Volunteer Information

Interested in volunteering with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program? Below are several roles in which VITA volunteers offer tax assistance to over 3,000 low-and-moderate-income, elderly, and disabled taxpayers.

If interested, please email RochesterTaxVolunteers@gmail.com or contact Dave (area coordinator) at 507-259-3170.

Existing volunteers - login to the Volunteer Site here.


Tax Preparer

This position assists low-and-moderate-income, elderly, and disabled taxpayers with filing federal and state tax returns (MN, WI, and IA). The role involves:

- Preparing tax forms using web-based software provided.

- Asking taxpayers tax-related questions to prepare an accurate return.

- Answering taxpayers' tax-related questions, and explaining the tax return.

- Working within the defined scope of the program, which places restrictions on returns that can be prepared to ensure we do not prepare returns for which we do not have effective training.

Orientation is provided for new volunteers in the fall and training for this position occurs in December and January and generally involves 40 hours of in-person or remote training.


Screener

This position assists low-and-moderate-income, elderly, and disabled taxpayers with filing federal and state tax returns (MN, WI, and IA). The Screener works with taxpayers at the start of the tax preparation engagement and:

- Welcomes clients and organizes forms.

- Checks for missing items (Social Security Card, photo ID, etc).

- Looks for “out of scope” items (business with employees, etc).

- Assists clients in completing the intake form.

Upon completion of the screening process, the taxpayer is introduced to the Tax Preparer who works with the taxpayer to prepare and complete the tax return.

Training for this role consists of a four-hour training session that occurs in early January.


Greeter

This position assists low-and-moderate-income, elderly, and disabled taxpayers with filing federal and state tax returns (MN, WI, and IA). The Greeter role includes:

- Welcoming clients and checking them off on the schedule sheet.

- Ensuring clients are helped in an appropriate order.

- Keeping information flowing to clients in the waiting area.

- Distributing intake forms and surveys to clients.

- Assisting with re-scheduling clients as necessary.

- Making notifications of missed appointments on schedule sheet.

- Attempting, if possible, to phone clients who are late for an appointment.

Training for this role consists of a four-hour training session that occurs in early January.