 | If your closing time is the same as that of the site host, remember the people
there have worked a hard day and need to go home; it takes time to pack and tidy up the place; rushing to
clear up could cause
things to get misplaced, and harder to find the next time. |
| While we want to be helpful...
 | resist the temptation and pleas to do that simple return with only one W-2
just before closing time; it is usually more complicated than it
appears. A particular taxpayer with one W-2 had left the
country last year and was back to do taxes and collect the refund - it
was not clear if a 1040 could be filed or if a 1040NR was required;
there are a set of complicated rules that determine if a taxpayer is a
resident for Tax Purposes, and those rules are defined in great detail
in the relevant IRS publications. |
| Resist the temptation to re-do a tax return already done on TurboTax.
The Taxpayer is probably knowledgeable enough, and has probably run
into an issue that can best be handled by someone who has more
knowledge than that taught at VITA. |
|
| VITA volunteer training does not extend to the complicated
returns of High-Income Taxpayers with complex deductions; VITA
emphasizes the various credits that low income taxpayers are qualified
to receive. |
| Pre-screening avoids wasting the time of people with complex
returns; better to know that the return cannot be done at the beginning
so that they don't wait two hours to learn it. |
| Please send more survival hints to
webmaster@www.vita-irs.org |
