For Volunteers
We encourage you to volunteer. Helping our clients is very rewarding, and clients tend to be really appreciative. Volunteers do not need to have math ability or tax background – many volunteers in past years had never prepared their own taxes before. Volunteering through TaxHelp counts toward the Pro Bono requirement. The only requirement to volunteer is to pass the IRS Certification Tests on tax law and preparation. There are comprehensive study materials available both through TaxHelp and the IRS.
Our volunteer location will be the main Cambridge Public Library at 449 Broadway (an easy walk from the law school). Our volunteer times are:
- Fridays from 12:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M.
- Saturdays from 10:00 A.M.- 4:00 P.M.
The specific volunteer dates are February 1st – April 13. We will not be preparing returns during spring break (March 15-23) . We ask that you commit to volunteering 2.5 hours per week.
We will be conducting training to obtain the necessary IRS certification in January. You can also study and take the certification exams on your own. The IRS certification education modules and exams are available at http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita. (You can use the Practice Lab, a practice version of the tax preparation software that we use, to do the returns for the exams. The password is learntwo.) At a minimum, you are required to pass the Basic certification and Intermediate certification. You can also obtain Advanced certification and/or Foreign Student certification.
If you are interested in volunteering, please e-mail hls.taxhelp@gmail.com to get added to our mailing list so that you will get all of the most up-to-date information on volunteering. Also, feel free to e-mail us if you have any questions.
Here is the presentation from our orientation meeting: