In honor of Giving Tuesday, Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga today encouraged all New Yorkers looking for opportunities to give back to their communities to become a volunteer tax preparer for NYC Free Tax Prep this coming tax season. Volunteers receive free, professional training and are certified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to help eligible New Yorkers file their taxes for free and claim all the credits that they are entitled to. With just a few hours of service a week throughout the tax season at one of more than 150 NYC Free Tax Prep sites, volunteer tax preparers can help their neighbors claim tens of thousands of dollars in credits and keep their full refund. Volunteers can also serve as greeters or language interpreters at select sites.
“Few things are as rewarding as giving back to your community and knowing you’ve made a difference in someone’s life,” said DCWP Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga. “Training and certification are not only easy, but you will learn basic tax law and filing software and can help New Yorkers keep their full refund, which is often one of the largest checks they receive all year. If you have a few hours a week and want to make a difference in your community, I urge you to become a volunteer tax preparer. It’s a short-term commitment with long-term impact.”
“As a retiree, I was nervous about learning the tax material and going through the certification process, but the program coordinators were very supportive in helping me through the process,” said Nancy Kaplan, a volunteer tax preparer with Grow Brooklyn. “Once I was assigned a site, the staff were warm and friendly and knowledgeable, helping me with my questions and getting me up to speed. I found my first tax season to be very rewarding and I’m looking forward to volunteering again.”
The number of volunteer tax preparers decreased following the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting the number of returns that NYC Free Tax Prep can file. In Tax Season 2019, there were more than 900 volunteers across 178 sites around the city. In Tax Season 2024, there were only 300 volunteer tax preparers across 150 sites. Although the number of volunteer preparers has fallen, NYC Free Tax Prep still helped file more than 101,000 returns last tax season, saving New Yorkers more than $134 million in filing fees.
New Yorkers who earned $93,000 or less and file as a family, or those who earned $65,000 or less and file as an individual or couple without dependents, are eligible to file for free using NYC Free Tax Prep this coming tax season. In addition to the training, the volunteer commitment is to volunteer a minimum of one 4–8-hour shift per week, over the course of the tax season, which runs January through April. Volunteers are encouraged to learn about NYC Free Tax Prep volunteer opportunities now by signing up through our online volunteer registration form or attending an informational session, which are offered through January. Volunteers can also start reviewing the training materials by visiting the IRS Link & Learn site and New York Cares’ online information sessions and training opportunities. Visit nyc.gov/volunteertaxprep or contact 311 for more information or to sign up.
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