Form 13614-C, Intake/Interview & Quality Review Sheet, is required for every tax return prepared. Certified volunteer preparers are required to complete the entire Intake/Interview Process when preparing tax returns. To promote accuracy, this process must include an interview with the taxpayer while reviewing Form 13614-C and all supporting documents.

Click here to download PDF

The Volunteers with the United Way of Pasco County in Florida are doing an EXCELLENT job! They have prepared more returns this year so far than they did last year and still going strong! WAY TO GO TEAM!!!

Thank you Kelly S for sharing this message

The following PDF is an update on your suggestions.  This document will be updated periodically with new suggestions and responses.  As we move out of tax season into planning season, it will also be updated with an indicator of the suggestions that will be able to implement for the next filing season.

We tweaked the format a little to allow us to sort by Federal and State.

An example of the status column can be found by Tracking ID 269372 (Ctrl+F allows you search in the document)

What’s Trending:

• Allow more filter options for Client Search
• MFJ/MFS Comparison
• 3 Year Summary

Don’t see your suggestion…don’t worry…suggestions will be added to the list as we pull them.

Don’t see a response next to your suggestion…we are reviewing each suggestion and will provide a response.

Click here to view PDF

The link will launch a Brainshark video with instructions on how to view the file.

The volunteers at this AARP site work so well together it is like they are a family. They go beyond the expected and norm, both with each other and with the individuals who come in to have their taxes prepared. For example, while I was there, the greeter saw a few clients were waiting to be called to the preparation room, so she filled the time by informing them of some of the fraudulent tax scams currently taking place. In addition, one of the clients had recently lost her husband and was/is still very emotional. When the greeter saw this, she immediately came to her side to console her and assured her that she was in good hands; that they would take very good care of her. (Her deceased husband had always handled the taxes.) I could continue to outline more examples of how the volunteers work seamlessly together but I think these two examples outline the exceptional volunteers at this site.

These are not volunteers who come together once a year to file taxes for people; these are individuals who welcome any and all to their community and provide the best service they can with a giving and open hearts.

Thank you for your volunteer service.

Community Action Partnership of Utah (CAP Utah) continues to do an outstanding job coordinating the statewide VITA program in Utah.   From Logan to Saint George and all points in between, they have you covered!   Consisting of 9 geographical regions with their very own regional coordinator, the Earn It, Keep It, Save It! Utah Coalition has been around for over 10 years.   What also sets them apart is their impressive website at utahtaxhelp.org!  There you can find a VITA site, learn about MFT and even sign up to volunteer in one convenient location.   Check it out to see how CAP Utah does VITA in Utah and a big applause for their participation in VITA all these years!

Thank you for your volunteer service.

Thank you Kori and Leland for sharing

We have turned on the feature that allows you to enter the basic state information that is required for your specific state after you complete the Taxpayer’s personal information.

Note:  This will appear on new returns and returns where the state is not already completed as a resident state

Step 1:

Select the Taxpayer’s resident state.  Note:  If this is not selected the state page will not display and the state will not automatically calculate until you add it in the state section.

Step 2:

Click continue after completing the Personal information page.  If the resident state is not loaded on an existing return or if this is a new return, the state basic page will load

In this example of GA, I can answer the address question and enter an email address:  Note that [email protected] is a format template letting the user know the required format of the field.

Step 3 (optional)

Verify the information flowed to the state return.  The purpose of this field is that if no additional changes are needed for the state, you can enter the data at this point rather than editing the state in the state section.

This is an example of answering “No” to the address question and entering [email protected] as an email address.

Example of NC Basic page in Personal Informatio

Blog Posted 03/29/2018

Halfway There!

Keep up the good work!

~~~  Original Message ~~~

First, we want to thank each of you for your dedication and commitment to make this a banner year for return production.  SPEC’s goal is not only to reach 4 million returns for Filing Season 2018, but also serve more taxpayers and touch more lives by offering as many free tax preparation options as possible.  We are confident and poised to accomplish great things this filing season with your assistance.

To help track our progress, we have developed weekly projections to determine where we should be in relation to our 4.0 goal.  Each week this message will be updated with our progress and promote SPEC’s theme: SPEC 4.0, Watch us Grow!

For the week ending 3/4/2018, 356,317 returns were projected to be completed.  We reached an actual count of 313,542 and are almost at the 1.5 million mark. Our cumulative return count is 1,468,961.

While the actual count is below the SPEC projection, there is still time to narrow the gap!

If you have any ideas on ways to help this initiative, we would love to hear from you! Some of you may consider extended hours or days.  Every little bit helps!

Thanks for your engagement and all you are doing to provide free tax assistance to the taxpayers in your community!

SPEC Headquarters

The following PDF is the first of many updates on your suggestions.  This document will be updated periodically with new suggestions and responses.  As we move out of tax season into planning season, it will also be updated with an indicator of the suggestions that will be able to implement for the next filing season.

What’s Trending:

• Make AGI visible
• Ability to enter repeatable items (i.e. Interest, dividends) more efficiently
• Display Calculated Age

Don’t see your suggestion…don’t worry…suggestions will be added to the list as we pull them.

Don’t see a response next to your suggestion…we are reviewing each suggestion and will provide a response.

Click here to view PDF

The link will launch a Brainshark video with instructions on how to view the file.