Volunteer Tax Preparers Needed in St. Charles County

ST. LOUIS – The Internal Revenue Service and the Gateway EITC Community Coalition are looking for volunteers to provide free tax counseling and basic income tax return preparation next filing season.

Last filing season, the 25 Gateway EITC Community Coalition free tax sites prepared more than 6,400 federal returns worth more than $8 million in federal tax refunds.

“The IRS and its partners are once again looking for volunteers that are interested in taking a little time to learn about taxes and then helping others by preparing federal income tax returns for free,” said IRS spokesman Michael Devine.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) sites prepare federal tax returns for older, low- to moderate-income, non-English speaking and disabled taxpayers who can not prepare their own tax returns. Volunteers help taxpayers receive all the credits and deductions they are eligible for.

The coalition provides free training and all the materials needed to prepare basic individual income tax returns. Volunteers need basic computer skills but accounting experience is not required. After training in January, volunteers are asked to give at least four hours per week.

For more information or to volunteer, please call Russ Signorino, Executive Director, Gateway EITC Community Coalition at 314-539-4062, or e-mail at: rsignorino@gecc.us. You may also want to visit their web site at: www.gecc.us.