ACC 350 Project Two Guidelines and Rubric

Competency

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:

• Apply VITA guidelines and regulations to the intake and review process

Overview

For this project, you will focus on work as a volunteer for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. By using your knowledge of tax guidelines, the codification, and the regulations, youve assisted clients by preparing tax returns specific to the VITA program, and you have communicated vital information to clients with diverse financial backgrounds.

Scenario

You are a volunteer income tax assistant (VITA volunteer) in a local community service organization. Your site coordinator is putting together a training program and has tasked you with developing training materials. You will create a slide presentation to assist the site coordinator with offering informational sessions to potential VITA volunteers based on your experience.

Directions

Create and present an engaging, informative presentation on the VITA volunteer role. Explain how the intake and review process is vital to preparing accurate tax returns for VITA clients and showcase how VITA volunteers communicate with clients. Your presentation should be 47 minutes in length, including 510 slides (not including your title and references slides), and you should provide speaker notes within the presentation for each slide.

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

1. Explain how the VITA clients prior and current year tax returns differ. Include the following:
   1. Three or four examples about how a tax return may differ from prior year to current year
      1. Examples may include changes to tax law and/or results on a tax return.
   2. Speaker notes
2. Explain how accuracy is obtained on a VITA clients completed tax return. Include the following:
   1. Best practices for intake and review process
   2. Use of the VITA software to support your work
   3. Clarifying questions to ask a VITA client
   4. Example from a client in this course
   5. Speaker notes
3. Explain a variety of VITA resources that support diverse taxpayers. Include the following:
   1. Two resources to support a VITA client
   2. Speaker notes
4. Demonstrate how ethics play an important role in the VITA process. Include the following:
   1. Explain at least three standards of conduct required through the VITA program as they relate to ethics.
   2. Speaker notes
5. Communicate recommended tax informationto the site coordinator. Include the following:
   1. Explain how a volunteer may address confidential client information (privacy).
   2. Discuss the purpose of the Consent to Disclose Tax Return Information to VITA/TCE Tax Preparation Sites form.
      1. What is the form used for?
   3. Reflect on the VITA program.
      1. Highlight at least three things youve learned in this course.
   4. Discuss your thoughts on volunteering for VITA in the future. Include the following:
      1. Reasons to volunteer
      2. Reasons not to volunteer
   5. Speaker notes