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Kill VITA?

September 25, 2009

In the wake of the ACORN tax/prostitution/child sex slavery scandal, the IRS has cut the ties between its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program and the community organizing agency. TaxGrrrl asks if VITA should be killed off altogether, and answers:

I couldn’t be more vehement that I think that’s a terrible idea. The implication in the email was that the population which is being served might have “complicated” tax issues that can’t be properly addressed by volunteers; the further implication was that those tax issues might be related to fraud.

This is correct. It's bad enough that the tax law is so difficult that people with simple financial lives need help with their tax forms. It would be worse if the IRS didn't even try to help poor folks with their returns.

Further regulation and licensing of tax return preparers is bad for the same reason. It would do little to improve tax filing, and might make it worse, while making it more expensive to get tax help. Let the market provide different levels of skill for different levels of tax difficulty. You might not go to VITA or a storefront tax shop to do your corporate restructuring, but they might be perfectly capable of helping a waitress through her 1040-A.