Earlier this year, I announced that during the 2025 tax filing season, I would be heading to Alaska to prepare tax returns as part of the Alaska Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Project. The project partners with the Alaska Business Development Center (ABDC) and trains volunteers to prepare tax returns for taxpayers living in remote parts of the state. Residents of these remote villages rely on VITA to prepare free income tax returns. The ABDC serves over 8,000 people annually in 176 communities across the state.
Since then, I’ve received several questions about the VITA program. Here’s a quick look at the program with answers to some of the most common questions.
What Is VITA?
VITA is an abbreviation for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. The program, which the IRS administers began as part of an increased emphasis on taxpayer education.
Today, VITA provides free tax filing assistance to underserved communities. While the criteria at VITA can vary, sites typically focus on people who generally make $67,000 or less, persons with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers. VITA’s sister program, TCE (short for Tax Counseling for the Elderly), focuses on taxpayers aged 60 or older. TCE and VITA are sometimes just referred to as VITA.
When Did VITA Start?
The IRS created the VITA program in 1969 following the Tax Reform Act of 1969, which increased the emphasis on taxpayer education programs. A year later, approximately 7,500 volunteers assisted 104,000 taxpayers in the program.
Less than a decade later, in 1978, the IRS created TCE.
Twenty-five years after the VITA program began, nearly 1.6 million taxpayers were assisted by 51,091 volunteers at 8,626 sites. In the most recent tax filing season, more than 72,000 volunteers worked at more than 9,000 VITA/TCE sites nationwide to prepare and file more than 2.7 million federal tax returns.
What Sorts Of Tax Returns Are Prepared At VITA Sites?
Not all kinds of returns can be prepared at VITA sites. Schedule C returns—meaning Forms 1040 for taxpayers who own their own businesses—may be out of scope for some sites, especially if the business had a significant net loss (exceeding $10,000) or depreciation. Returns with a Schedule D (Capital Gains and Losses) may also be out of scope if they are particularly complex, as well as most Schedule E (Rental Income) and Schedule F (Farm Income) returns.
VITA sites typically do not prepare corporate, partnership, or fiduciary income tax returns like Forms 1120, 1120-S, 1041, or 1065.
VITA sites can prepare most other Form 1040 returns, including those with itemized deductions and self-employment tax. Taxpayers who must report simple interest and dividends and capital gains and losses can also have their returns prepared at VITA sites.
Do VITA Sites Offer Other Services?
You can apply for an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) for free at some VITA sites.
VITA sites that offer ITIN services have Certifying Acceptance Agents (CAAs) who can help complete and review your Form W-7, authenticate most supporting documents (but not foreign military ID cards or documents for dependents, except passports and birth certificates), and prepare your tax return for free, if you qualify. You can see a list of ITIN sites by state here.
Who Pays For VITA?
You do, sort of. The IRS administers the VITA/TCE programs, and the agency relies on funding from Congress.
Don’t think of VITA sites as permanent fixtures—the sites vary depending on money and volunteers. To fund sites, the IRS established the VITA Grant program in 2007—grants are awarded based on annual applications. The grant program allows VITA to extend services to underserved populations, increase the number of tax returns filed electronically and boost enhance volunteer training.
For the 2025 fiscal year, the IRS awarded $53 million in grants to 41 TCE and 315 VITA organizations that provide free federal tax return preparation. In 2023, grant recipients from the programs helped taxpayers file more than 2.1 million tax returns. You can view the list of VITA/TCE grant recipients here.
VITA/TCE sites rely on volunteers. Not all volunteers prepare taxes—additional roles include greeters and screeners, site coordinators, IT troubleshooters, and quality reviewers. Volunteers may also provide free language interpreter services.
Depending on the types of tax returns they will help prepare, volunteers receive different levels of training (in my case, for example, we learned about Alaska Permanent Fund payments and fishery statements). They must also pass an exam to receive basic or advanced certification. Specialty certifications are also available for the military (lessons for members of the Armed Forces, Reserve, and National Guard), international taxpayers, and Puerto Rico.
Some charitable organizations also provide needed VITA and TCE services. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Foundation participates in the TCE program through the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide. For the 2023 tax season, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide and grantees helped more than 918,000 low-income older adults obtain nearly $564 million in tax refunds and credits.
Where Can I Find VITA Site?
VITA and TCE sites are generally located at community and neighborhood centers, libraries, schools, shopping malls, and other public locations. To find the nearest VITA or TCE site near you, use the VITA Locator Tool or call 1.800.906.9887.
Note that most TCE sites are operated by the AARP Foundation’s Tax Aide program. To locate the nearest AARP TCE Tax-Aide site between January and April, use the AARP Site Locator Tool or call 1.888.227.7669.
Does VITA Have Sites Overseas?
VITA does assist taxpayers overseas with a focus on U.S troops. In 2020, instructors provided training to 17 military bases located in Europe and Asia. (You can contact Military OneSource at 800.342.9647 to locate a military VITA site near you.)
Is VITA Funding At Risk?
The VITA program has been around for over 50 years, so cutting it now would be a surprising choice. However, the Trump administration has prioritized cost-cutting across all federal agencies (other than the military, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security), including the IRS.
(It is important to note that VITA programs are not supported by Inflation Reduction Act dollars—cuts to those programs should not impact VITA.)
VITA programs could be particularly vulnerable targets for elimination because they often benefit families who rely on tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)—the EITC has long been a target of some members of Congress because, at its core, it’s a spending program. The EITC is a refundable tax credit for eligible workers, especially those with children, with relatively low incomes. The EITC was created following the 1974 recession to encourage the working poor to enter the labor force and to reduce the number of families needing welfare. Today, the goals of the EITC also include poverty reduction. As the hammer drops on some assistance programs, the EITC could be under fire, which means that it could also touch VITA programs. We’ll know more as budget talks progress.
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