Agenda
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8:30 Greet & Caffeinate
9:00 Introduction & Agenda
Review of NH Tax-Aide
Recognition
Long-term Goals
TY2011 Plans
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What’s New
IRS Update
Volunteer coordination
Training
Computers
Lunch
General discussion
Review of NH TaxAide: State
Leadership
ADS Vicki Laforet
laforetv@gmail.com
TRS
Deb Hatcher
deb-hatcher@earthlink.net
TCS
Wayne Eddy
wizard43@gmail.com
PVS Harvey Epstein harveyiepstein@gmail.com
PCS Les Scammon
SC
Jan Nedelka
lesscam@comcast.net
jan@nedelka.net
Review of NH TaxAide: District
Leadership
North Country Chuck Martindill
mdill@hal-pc.org
GraftonSullivan
Gus Seamans
sea42@tds.net
xcaliber1@roadrunner.co
Carroll County
Howie Knight
m
Concord
Les Scammon
lesscam@comcast.net
Monadnock
Bunny Peakes
bcpeaks@comcast.net
Manchester Jim Theodosopoulos jimtheo@comcast.net
Nashua
Kaye Heffernan pkchefnh@comcast.net
harveyiepstein@gmail.co
Seacoast
Harvey Epstein
Recognition
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20 Years with Tax-Aide
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Cecile Chabot
Norma Rose
Ruth Cunniff
Owen Latham
Ann Saad
Five volunteers with ten years of service
Twenty-eight volunteers with five years of service
Long term Goals for
New
Hampshire
• 100% Taxwise Online by 2014
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Last year we were at 40% - in top ten in
nation; some states already closing in on
100%
Succession Plans at every level by 2013
No one-person sites by 2012 (okay, that’s
short term)
Strong TC in every district - distinct from DC
by 2013
TY2011:What’s New
• Tax Law: Few changes (barring a ‘gift’
from congress in December)
• One new form - Form 8949
TY2011: What’s New
• TaxWise Changes
• TaxWise Online tweaked to be more
like desktop
• MeF active from the state accept/rejects in less than 10 minutes
TY2011: What’s New
IRS Changes
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No longer need to retain 1099s
No longer need to retain W-2s
No longer need to retain 8879s (federal
and state)
New training requirement: Standards of
Conduct (painless & common sense)
Dramatically cutting back on printed
training material - nothing printed in 2014
TY2011: What’s New
Standards
of
Conduct
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I will follow the Quality Site Requirements (QSR)
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I will not accept payment or solicit donations for federal or state
tax return preparation
I will not solicit business from taxpayers I assist or use the
knowledge I gained about them (their information) for any direct
or indirect personal benefit for me or any other specific
individual.
I will not knowingly prepare false returns
I will not engage in criminal, infamous, dishonest, notoriously
disgraceful conduct, or any other conduct deemed to have a
negative effect on the VITA/TCE Programs.
I will treat all taxpayers in a professional, courteous, and
respectful manner
TY2011: What’s New
Standards of Conduct
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Jake is a volunteer preparer in the
VITA/TCE Programs. When preparing a
return for Jill, Jake learns that Jill does not
have an account to receive a direct deposit
of her refund. Jake offers to use his
account to receive the direct deposit, and
says he will turn the money over to Jill
once the refund is deposited. Is this an
acceptable action under the program?
a. Yes b. No
TY2011: What’s New
Tax-Aide
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Lots of stuff!
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Standards of Professionalism
Incident Review Protocol
Volunteer recruitment through Portal
Milage-only expense through Portal
Nasty Budget Crunch (~25%)
Everyone must have a unique email address
No surveys (tear them off if using old envelopes)
Generic XP images, generic Win7 images
Printers can be fixed by same folks who provide toner
All volunteers, including new, may now take all tests online
May use public wifi networks for TWO
TY2011: What’s New
NH Tax-Aide
• Computer allocation and distribution will
be coordinated by TCS (Wayne)
• Several ‘dead’ laptops will be replaced
with new ones from national; Wayne
has resurrected a couple others.
• If wireless routers are needed, they can
be supplied
TY2011: What’s New
Tax-Aide
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Standards of Professionalism dovetails with IRS’ standards of
conduct, but encompasses treatment and expectations of
volunteers as well as clients. Volunteers now agree to allow
background checks...if someone can come up with the money.
Incident Protocol provides a path for handling when things go
bad - including violations of the standards of professionalism.
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Webinars and training available in December.
Anticipated use is low - on the order of ~35-50 nationwide
Example: if client says ‘you're going to hear from my lawyer’,
start the protocol
Example: If a client or a volunteer has a heart attack, start the
protocol
TY2011: What’s New
Tax-Aide
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Volunteer Recruitment
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All new potential volunteers MUST be
entered into portal system
Preferred method: Have the recruit enter
their data
Acceptable alternative: DCs or LCs may
enter the volunteer’s information
Now require an ID check on volunteers
TY2011: What’s New
Tax-Aide
TY2011: What’s New
Tax-Aide
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Many reimbursements will be submitted via Portal (but not
all)
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LCs must generate their own flat-rate forms, rather than
waiting for mailing from national (NH state policy)
Individuals may now file for milage through portal
Training available in January
History: 23% take no reimbursement; 35% take flat rate.
Remainder constitute single largest item in tax-aide
budget (~50%). There will be an option to take a lesser
amount
NH will have same $300 milage ceiling as prior years w/o
prior approval by SC. Approval deadline is Jan 15th.
TY2011: What’s New
Tax-Aide
• There is now a generic Win XP image
that can be installed on pretty much any
machine, and all security and software
requirements are met
• National has received a grant for 9,500
Win7 licenses, but will not generally be
rolled out until next year.
IRS Update
New Hampshire AARP TaxAide Fall Meeting 2011
Thank you again!!!!!!
Volunteer Return Preparation Program (VRPP)
VITA/TCE Sites New Hampshire
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68 free tax preparation Sites in New Hampshire
14,072 tax returns prepared up 6.5% from 2010
56% returns filed single filers
19% Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) returns
$3.67 million in EITC claimed
$17.1 million in refunds claimed
$2.08 million in balance due returns filed
96% returns e-filed
60% returns Direct Deposit up from 53% in 2010
Encourage Direct Deposit & Direct Debit
SPEC Quality Initiative 2012
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Ten Quality Site Requirements
Complete Interview/Intake and Quality review process
SPEC assistance visits
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Stay within scope of VITA/TCE Program
Form 13614-C mandatory
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Form 13614-C in TaxWise can be used
QSS site reviews by SPEC HQ
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Unannounced visits in 2012
SPEC Quality Initiative 2012 (cont.)
TIGTA Shopping
 SPEC QSS & Shopping Visits
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Performed by SPEC HQ
Most Common tax law errors Filing Season 2011
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Investment income
Taxability of pension income and SS benefits
Itemized Deductions
Product Ordering Timeline
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Training materials are scheduled to arrive the week of
November 21st
All training products available now on irs.gov
All Sites should have Publication 3189 “Volunteer e-file
Administration Guide” QSR #4
Publication 4491 CD includes all printed training materials
Pub 4491 VITA/TCE Training Guide
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Included pub 4491, 4491-W, 4012, 1278, & Test Form 6744
Pub 4480 Link & Learn Taxes
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Includes pub 4491-W, 4012 & Test Form 6744, CD of pub 4491
VITA/TCE Products
FY 2012
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Expanded in scope tax topics
Link & Learn available November 14th
SPEC transitioning to electronic products by filing season
2014
Form 13614-C revised
Web based evaluations
Pub 4491-X published electronically mid December for late
tax law legislation
Optional e-modules on Link & Learn for those who have
passed advanced module
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Cancellation of debt
Health Savings Accounts
TaxWise Filing Season 2012
TaxWise Online recommended where possible
 Much less burden on Site Coordinator
 Wireless not prohibited
 Form 8879 retention requirement eliminated,
taxpayer will retain signed copy
 TaxWise Software shipped 11/28/2011
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FS 2012 TaxWise
Beginning with FS 2012, users have the ability to:
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Switch between interview and form mode in TWO similar to
Desktop
Allow Administrators to mandate use of interview mode
Setup up staging groups in TWO similar to Desktop.
Restrict preparers use of override
Moved the “efile” button to the top of screen
Added Control “E” function
TaxWise Webinars on Link & Learn Practice Lab
FS 2012 TaxWise
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New Reviewer role
Three new Prep Use Fields
Time out reminder
Included Form 13614C
Offering a Western Union Debit Card
Modernized e-file or MeF
Year round e-filing
 Faster acknowledgements
 Prior year returns
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2010 tax year during 2012 tax season
More plain language error conditions
 Allow Adobe PDF attachments to tax returns
 CCH began participating in MeF in 2011
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Modernized e-file or MeF (cont.)
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MeF is case sensitive
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CCH recommends the use of CAPS lock throughout
the preparation of the tax return
Punctuation or extra spaces on the Main Information
sheet will cause validation errors
Special characters should not be used (i.e. hyphens,
commas, periods)
FSA: Facilitated Self Assistance Tax
preparation
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The volunteer Program could not serve everyone who
needs assistance if they all showed up
70% of taxpayers can prepare their taxes on line at
irs.gov for free but do not know how
Certified volunteer assists group of customers not one
on one tax preparation
FSA an option in all 50 states
ICAN www.icanefile.org
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Approved for New Hampshire
Community Based Partnerships /
Coalitions
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Community organizations coming together to provide:
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Education and Outreach
Tax Preparation
Financial Education/Asset Building-make customers aware
of what tax credits/resources are available
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Why participate: AARP Tax-Aide is a key Partner
Resources may be available/volunteers/marketing
United Way is involved across New Hampshire and a key Partner
Six active Community Based Partnerships in NH
Financial Education &
Asset
Building
Tax Credit Awareness
and Education
Community
Based
Partnerships
Tax Preparation
Questions?????
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603-628-7531
Gregg Woodes gregg.p.woodes@irs.gov
Joanne Yasika joanne.yasika@irs.gov
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603-628-7536
Internal Revenue Service/SPEC
1000 Elm Street Suite 900
Manchester NH 03101
TY2011: What’s New
Coalition
Partners
• CA$H
Coalition of New
Hampshire now
exists
• A statewide organization to serve a
variety of financial related public
service organizations and help clients
move from viewing us as an isolated
transaction to part of their broader
financial life.
• Example of small business matching
program
Volunteer
Coordination
• New Portal Features
Volunteer Recruitment System –
the improved new way
Why?
•To provide DCs with additional information about prospective volunteer experiences and qualifications
•To allow leaders to refer potential volunteers to better matched supervisors
•No need for DC/LC to send name, address, phone, e-mail notifications to ADS
•To provide correct data entry BY prospective volunteers
•To reduce the clerical workload of ADSs
•To allow management to be aware of recruiting activity and training success
•Marketing – to evaluate the sources of potential volunteers
•Training – to be aware of when in the training process potential volunteers are determined no longer
to be viable for an assignment
•Ethical/Moral qualification – to determine the extent to which potential volunteers fail to become
volunteers owing to an unacceptable criminal background or failure to agree to Standards of Conduct.
Processing Prospects
3. PVS (Harvey)
routes the prospect to DC
www.aarp.org/taxaide
Prospect Volunteer Form
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Auto E-mail to
PVS
Volunteer Portal
1. Prospective volunteer
submits application online
6. Auto E-mail to
DC
prospect
5. DC reviews
4. Auto e-mail to DC
for assignment
application, interviews the
prospect and changes
status to “Approve”, “No
Match”, or “On Hold”
Processing Prospects
Volunteer Portal
PVS
Harvey
VMIS
VMIS
DC
Prospect
Records
ADS
Vicki
7. DC reports certified new volunteers
to ADS via e-mail
8. ADS process “Accepted” prospect
to volunteer with “Process Prospect” in
VMIS
2012
• The AARP Tax-Aide web site has a shorter address, www.aarp.org/taxaide and is easier
to locate using key word searches (AARP Tax-Aide, Volunteer Tax-Aide, etc) in Google.
• Registration directions are available for a prospective volunteer.
• DCs are allowed to change any status even after No Match and Accepted statuses are selected.
• E-mails for 'No Match' continue to be worded negatively - Upon request, the ADS can go
into VMIS directly and change prospective volunteers to "No Match" with out triggering
an e-mail
• Prospective Volunteer record does not identify the supervisor – if known include it in the
notes when you approve a candidate.
Prospective Volunteer Recruitment System – DCs View
Review Prospective Volunteer
DC determines
next steps
Status Codes (Red: New/Revised)
• Submitted (Pending): means that an application has been received but no contact or action
has yet been taken.
• Routed to DC (Pending approval from DC): means the application has been routed to a DC
but no contact or action has yet been taken.
• DC Evaluating (In Progress): means that the application has been received by a decision
maker and contact or a decision is in progress although no decision has yet been made.
• Approve: means that the prospective volunteer has been approved to be scheduled for training
AND training kits will be ordered.
• No Match (Reject): means the prospective volunteer appears not to be a good fit for the AARP
Tax-Aide program and the application has been rejected. To avoid the negative email sent out to
the volunteer - Request the ADS to make this change
• On Hold: means that the applicant may be suitable to become a Tax-Aide volunteer at a later
date.
• Duplicate: means that prospective volunteer has submitted more than one application to
become a Tax-Aide volunteer
• Unqualified: means that the prospective volunteer has not passed the Ethics Qualification Test
or has not signed the Volunteer Standards of Conduct.
• Accepted: means that the prospective volunteer has passed the Ethics Qualification Test, and
has signed the Volunteer Standards of Conduct AND the volunteer can be processed into VMIS.
Computers
• Wayne will coordinate statewide
computer distribution
• All DCs to gather needs from LCs
• Keep Wayne’s life simple - assume he
is blissfully ignorant of what you’ve
done in the past, and as DC pass the
consolidated information on to him much cleaner than 50 LCs sending all
kinds of stuff.