Choosing a Vita Site Model: Traditional Face-To-Face versus Alternative Virtual Models

Since the early 1970s, the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Volunteer Income Tax Assistance/Tax Counseling for the Elderly (hereafter, VITA) programs have provided free income tax return preparation and filing assistance for eligible taxpayers in various underserved communities. In 2020, COVID-19 presented VITA Site Coordinators with the unique challenge of either shutting down completely or finding ways to remain open amid a global pandemic. Many of those that remained open found themselves forced to rely upon virtual methods to accomplish at least some of the steps in the return preparation process, prompting heightened concerns over taxpayer identity verification and securitization of taxpayers’ personal information. Post-COVID beginning in 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to ensure consistent operation of all sites regardless of the site model being used, began requiring VITA Site Coordinators to document and receive approval for their planned methodologies by December 31 of the year preceding each filing season. The process is more burdensome for those sites using any remote methodologies and could partially explain why the number of VITA sites, VITA volunteers, and returns processed at VITA sites have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. This paper is intended to help VITA Site Coordinators better understand the different models they might use and make a sound choice based on that understanding to motivate greater participation in the VITA program.