 internal revenue service IRS tax news IRS is recruiting volunteers nationwide to help taxpayers this filing season oh great the IRS is looking for collection volunteers again I mean honestly they'll probably end up like hiring Antifa or something they're like good news everyone we the IRS have just organized this completely grassroots totally anti-fascist quote volunteer end quote group of collection people I'll hold on a second hold on hey Johnny pull that guy's nose hairs out one by one for trying to hide money in his sock I don't care if he says he wasn't hiding it from us but instead hiding it from his wife I mean honestly if I could steal a nickel for every time I've heard that excuse we could actually fund Social Security and don't forget the cavity search Johnny nice work you've earned an extra helping of Hunter Biden's secret stash the which isn't paid mind you this is this is volunteer work it's just a secret stash of like mandatory IRS volunteer office supplies like volunteer collection office supply stuff that we divide out amongst like the charitable group members in proportion to how many thumbs they've broken just kidding you know volunteers a good thing I'm just kidding here's another tasteless joke have you ever heard somebody say it's as easy as taking candy from a baby my candy it's all gone even my West Hollywood candy it's like whatever that's ridiculous I mean those things cry like crazy my twink spa my very milky way my Reese's penis it's worse than setting off a car alarm who's done this to me who has taken candy from a baby and unlike with the car the owner of the baby is usually in the general vicinity ready and able to like mace you or something that would be like taking candy from a baby also trying to run from a crying baby is not at all dignified and may draw attention luckily there is a solution you found the solution sir besides the material all fits what you want to do is you want to steal the candy while the kids in the public school system because like the public schools have a policy of not telling the mace wielding parents like anything wait a minute you kind of looks like a baby come here I'm gonna eat you I'm bigger than you I'm hiring the food chain get in my belly I mean honestly they may even invite you into the school so the kids can learn to like empathize with the with the baby thieves I wish you would reconsider this is my rival company you're battling with school people won't stand for it peace push you'll be like taking candy from a baby see that sounds like a lot it's dread right now IRS tax tip 2022-190 December 14th 2022 last year more than 58,000 IRS volunteers gave back to their communities by preparing more than 2.2 million federal income tax returns for individuals and families nationwide these volunteers provided free tax help in communities across the country the IRS is recruiting volunteers now for the 2023 filing season there's a link to the recruiting here for over 50 years the IRS volunteer income tax assistance and tax counseling for the elderly programs there's a link to those programs here have offered free tax preparation to people with low to moderate income that need to help preparing their own tax returns these includes people with disabilities and senior citizens many sites also assist individuals for whom English is a second language so obviously the capacity to be you know bilingual could be quite valuable in certain situations to help out with taxes which can be quite complex even on the low income side of things these days in part due to some changes in the law making you know these refundable credits can be kind of confusing child tax credits and the the changes to things like the stimulus payments and whatnot that have happened over the years the prepayments for the you know child tax credits and whatnot the earned income credit is quite complex as well and so in any case and bilingual volunteers are particularly needed so clearly they're looking for bilingual volunteers which makes sense volunteering with these programs is easy and flexible no previous experience is required the IRS provides free online tax law training for volunteers so note that clearly working in these kind of situations can look good on a resume so it's a it might be a worthwhile activity to help out the community and to be working with you know tax law stuff in a practical type of way and you know possibly you know working with the IRS to some degree could be useful as well so the program offers flexible volunteer hours and locations including some virtual opportunities volunteers can pick from various roles depending on their interest and experience tax professionals like enrolled agents and accountants can earn CPE credits so that that's another kind of incentive you can get your CPE credits this isn't pay this is volunteer work but you might get you might be able to get some of the CPE credits at least volunteers with certain professional statuses there's a link to that here can earn continuing education credits by completing the required tax law training certification via link and learn taxes there's a link to that and serving as a volunteer instructor tax return preparer or quality reviewer in the Vita or the VCE programs some program sites now have online volunteering opportunities so clearly with the whole pandemic thing I think a lot of people really kind of we're suffering for the fact that they don't have the in-person volunteer kind of approach because and then now it's kind of back so we still have that but you would think of course the IRS would still like to get everything online if they could I don't think it's quite possible at this point because many of the people that are going to need help with language and help with you know filling up the taxes and so on or probably not going to be the same they're going to want in person help generally but you might be able to do some some work online as well and if anything that could be done might be more efficient also just note between these two programs it's you might be thinking where you want to specialize in the Vita or the TCE so there's so you can think you know are you going to be working with people that are going to be older individuals or you are not older individuals that are of the low to moderate income level and there's differences in the tax return so clearly if you're working with people that are still in the working age range you would expect to have a lot of things related to possibly filing statuses the whether they're you know how many dependents they are the head of household or are the single and those kinds of situations how many dependents where they have they have kids you got you've got the credits with the child tax credits and possibly earned income tax credits and that kind of stuff and you've got W to earnings you would think for older individuals that are past their work years you would think then that you might have other kind of questions about whether or not something is income or something if they're getting benefit payments like social security Medicare and this kind of stuff what kind of stuff has to be added in income what kind of stuff doesn't need to be an income are they a dependent of someone else's tax return or are they filing their own tax return and so on might have investment kind of income most of the income might be coming from benefit programs social security and stuff like that and and investments coming out of like a 401k or an IRA for for the money that's coming out what's the taxable this of those kind of earnings so you want to kind of get it get an idea of where you want to be put in your time and why you want to be put in your time there and possibly learning the ins and outs of those fairly different kind of lifespan tax return preparation areas so volunteers at some sites can now help taxpayers over the phone or online providing additional flexibility and convenience to volunteers and taxpayers in person program sites are usually located in places like community centers library schools and churches once potential volunteers express interest the IRS will send them an invitation to a virtual orientation session where they will learn more about the program so if you're interested in that and it is I it is a good thing you know you're not you're not stealing people's money here trying to help you know they got the taxes are what they are so we're going to have to help with the pain or the processing of the taxes so people don't get behind and what not on that stuff which can be frustrating and so there's links to all that stuff here.