Alaska VITA Project

The Tax Section is pleased to announce the launch of a new pro bono project, the Alaska VITA Project, from February 21 to March 2, 2025. After a successful pilot with the Alaska Business Development Center (ABDC) during the winter of 2024, the Tax Section will host six volunteers to travel to Alaska and prepare tax returns for taxpayers living in remote parts of the state. This is a unique pro bono opportunity which simultaneously offers tax return preparation and experiential learning in communities far off the usual Alaska travel path.

Impact

Residents of these remote villages rely on VITA for free income tax return preparation and ABDC meets this need, serving over 8,000 people annually in 176 communities across the state. ABDC depends on trained, VITA-certified volunteers to travel to communities annually to prepare returns and answer tax questions. During the pilot, three Tax Section members traveled to the whaling village of Tikigaq (population 830) and to the hunting village of Atqasuk (population 276) to prepare returns for taxpayers residing there.

Logistics

Volunteers must arrive in Anchorage by February 21 to participate. The Tax Section will reimburse volunteers’ airfare to Anchorage, up to $800 per volunteer. ABDC will fund lodging and travel from Anchorage to the villages, and will provide the necessary equipment to prepare returns. All other costs such as sleeping bags, warm clothing and some food expenses (there is a small food stipend) will be the responsibility of the volunteers.

Each of ABDC’s teams is a traveling tax office, with laptops, a printer, VITA forms, and office supplies. The pilot team prepared close to 170 returns over five days in the two villages

Common tax issues presented include treatment of the Alaska Permanent Fund dividends, Native Corporation dividends, tribal council payments, as well as W-2 and 1099 income. Due to the dividends’ amount, the team also prepared children’s returns.

Training

Volunteers with prior tax return preparation and/or VITA volunteering are encouraged to apply, but this experience is not required. Training for volunteers of this program is thorough. Each volunteer must certify to VITA’s advanced certification level, which can also be used in volunteers’ home community VITA sites. In addition, ABDC requires an online training session and the completion of several practice scenarios to ensure team members are prepared for the unique return situations volunteers might encounter among Alaskan native taxpayers. If volunteers run into questions they cannot answer while in the villages, ABDC is available by phone to talk through the tax return puzzle.

Outside VITA

Each village provides a local contact for the team who are often eager to share their respective communities. For the pilot team, this included such sights as the whaling captains’ resting places in the cemetery in Tikigaq, and the caribou grazing grounds on the tundra in Atqasuk.

Find out More and Apply to Join the Team!

Interested in getting involved? Check out the recruitment brochure from ABDC or this article about the experience of last year’s team.

The Section hosted an information session on November 22. You can view the recording here.

Applications to join this initiative are due December 6, 2024. Please email your completed application and resume to Meg Newman at [email protected].

Please contact Meg Newman, [email protected], or Susan Morgenstern, [email protected], to learn how you can participate in this program.