TAMPA BAY – Friday, August 7, 2009 --  United Way of Tampa Bay needs volunteers to help prepare tax returns for low-income Hillsborough and Pinellas county residents January through April 2010.

No experience is necessary. Volunteers will receive free training and will emerge from the volunteer experience with valuable new skills.

Training will be provided in the classroom, online or a combination of both during September, October and November 2009. Tax preparation will take place January through April 2010. Volunteers will prepare tax returns based on information provided by the taxpayer and by asking tax-related questions. They will help working families understand their eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit and can refer taxpayers with more complex returns to other sources.

Volunteer requirements include basic computer skills, a desire to help low-income families, the ability to work with people from varied backgrounds, and a willingness to commit to two to four hours per week at a designated location. Tax preparation sites will be open weekdays, evenings and weekends.

Bi-lingual volunteers are needed for sites that offer translation services. Volunteers will check taxpayers in and translate while their return is being prepared. No training is involved; hours needed are the same as the tax preparers.

Volunteers are also needed to assist at the sites by greeting taxpayers and verifying information. No training involved; hours needed are the same as the tax preparers.

For more information or to volunteer in Hillsborough contact Kara Moore at 813.274.0926 or email kmoore@uwtb.org; in Pinellas Cherin Stover at 727.328.0618 or email CherinStover@hotmail.com.

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Editor’s Note: The EITC program has been heralded as the greatest single anti-poverty program in the Federal Government. In 2008 it returned $11.9 million to deserving families in the Tampa Bay area.