SALISBURY — There will be a training orientation on Wednesday for anyone interested in helping with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program at Rufty-Holmes Senior Center.

The purpose of the orientation will be to meet veterans and new volunteers and explain the process to them. 

In an email, David Post, a program organizer, said that the program follows the Internal Revenue Service’s format which most of the other 8,000 VITA sites use. 

The purpose of the training is to familiarize the volunteers with the software and to teach them the relevant tax issues for the population we generally serve. 

Post indicated that last year, the average income was approximately $20,000. All returns are prepared by IRS-certified volunteers and are subject to an independent quality review.

All volunteers must be certified which requires passing at least two tests — one on ethics and one on the intake process. Volunteers who prepare or review returns must pass another test on tax proficiency.

“My goal is for most volunteers to complete the tests by the first of January so that our training sessions on the first four Wednesdays of each month can focus on preparing practice returns and addressing specific issues,” Post said. “Most sites have one training session with the training and testing processes being self-directed and online. In addition to our two orientation sessions in December, we will have four training sessions in January.” 

In 2022, the program prepared about 650 returns. In 2023, those numbers rose to more than 1,000. Post expects that number to increase again this year. The orientation program will take place from 9-11 a.m. at Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, located at 1120 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. South in Salisbury.