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A volunteer-staffed tax preparation program directed toward helping senior citizens and lower income individuals file their federal, state and local returns is looking for help. The program operates out of the Cranberry Public Library. You don’t need to be either a senior citizen or a Certified Public Accountant to participate, although CPAs are welcome to join as are college students and retirees. The program is sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service called the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, VITA, which offers free tax help to seniors, as well as, low-income families and individuals. It operates in conjunction with the AARP Tax-Aide program through which VITA trained and certified Tax-Aide volunteers help people of low-income, with special attention to those 60 and older. The program operates from February 1 through April 15. Volunteers are given a minimum of 20 hours of free training during December and January at any of several Western Pennsylvania sites. Home based self training can also be arranged. Those who volunteer through the AARP program are eligible for a small stipend to cover their expenses in getting to and from their training. Engineer Mike Berman has served as the volunteer Cranberry tax program coordinator for the past six years. But during the past few years, the number of volunteer preparers has dwindled. “I see another difficult year ahead,” he said. “We have several hundred citizens who rely on our services. We spend one day a week from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM in the library serving the public. Occasionally we will offer evening and weekend hours or visit shut-ins when needed.” Personnel from the Cranberry Public Library assist the preparers with taking phone calls, scheduling, and directing those who show up for assistance. In doing so, they follow a script Berman created so that when people arrive, they come prepared. Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer tax preparer this coming tax season is invited to contact Mike Berman at mberman@fyi.net or by phone at (724) 776-4343. |
