Law students: Volunteer with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program! 

Before volunteering, you must complete the three required exams and send the signed form 13615 to lawvita@wfu.edu or a Project Coordinator: Volunteer Standards of Conduct (VSOC), Intake/Interview and Quality Review (II&QR), Basic Tax Law Exam or Advanced Tax Law Exam. I encourage the Advanced Tax Law if you have tax knowledge. 

Please join us on the Link to access a shared Google drive for training information and resources.  

About VITA: The IRS sponsors VITA programs nationwide to provide free tax preparation services to low-income individuals and families. Many clients might not otherwise file their taxes, even though they are often entitled to refunds. VITA helps prevent clients from paying high fees for relatively simple returns and provides an essential community service. Wake Law partners with the VITA site called Forsyth Free Tax. 

No prior tax experience is required. Every return is reviewed by an advanced volunteer, so if you make a mistake, it can be corrected. If you are new or nervous, please feel free to ask another volunteer if you can first watch them complete a return, ask questions, or reference appropriate IRS guidelines. If you completed the Basic training and want to later complete the Advanced certification, we encourage you to do so, and ask you please email us your updated certification. 

Required Volunteer Sign-Up: After you have completed your exams, to volunteer, please sign up through the ESR system: https://www.volgistics.com/vicnet/login

This allows ESR to track volunteer hours and ensures you receive direct updates from ESR, such as weather updates. You may be prompted to “apply” but you should be automatically approved. You can also note your availability in the comments if you do not plan to be there the entire time, such as “I will only be there from 12-2pm.”

Volunteer Schedule & Location:

Volunteer Dates: January 26 – April 15
Hours:

• Monday–Thursday & Saturday: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

• Hours may be extended closer to tax day (we will notify you if this happens)

Location:
Experiment in Self-Reliance (ESR)
3480 Dominion Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27105

This is a walk-in service Monday–Thursday and appointment-only on Saturdays, so how busy the site is can vary (meaning, sometimes ESR will be slow and there will not be any returns to process so you may have to wait, while other times it can be very busy and they may stop taking new clients - if it is really slow, I would recommend asking if there is anything else you can do to help!). You are not required to stay for the full 9:00–3:00 shift. I would recommend allowing yourself at least an hour to be at ESR to ensure you have enough time to complete a return. From 9-10am each day, volunteers will begin arriving and VITA will be setting up and return processing will begin at 10am. 

First Shift: When you arrive for your first shift, you may tell the front desk that you are a VITA volunteer from Wake Forest Law and they should be able to help direct you to the volunteer area. Most of the volunteers are local members of the community and are very welcoming, and we encourage you to introduce yourself to them. 

Important Pro Bono Update

Please note that recent updates to the Pro Bono Manual require that you volunteer at ESR in order to log your VITA training hours. While training hours count for Pro Bono volunteering hours, those hours will not count if you do not volunteer at all during the spring semester (ex: if you complete your training, you must volunteer at least once for those training hours to count). This policy is intended to encourage meaningful participation. VITA is also a great pathway to qualifying for the Pro Bono Honor Society.

Contact Information (Project Coordinators)

• General VITA Email: lawvita@wfu.edu

• Cameron Mercer – merccj23@wfu.edu

• Rachel Lane – lanerc23@wfu.edu or text 603-686-3882

• Kelly Mahon – mahoke24@wfu.edu

• Lindsey Tito – titol24@wfu.edu

If you are lost or have questions during a shift, please reach out to any of the Project Coordinators.

Last year, Wake Law Students completed approximately 338 tax returns and we would love to beat that number this year. Thank you again for volunteering and we are looking forward to working with you this tax season!