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Link & Learn Taxes linking volunteers to quality e-learning

2011 Link and Learn Taxes e-Learning

Welcome to Link & Learn Taxes, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (VITA/TCE) e-learning courses!

The site has been redesigned this year. You can access the VITA/TCE courses—Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Military, and International by clicking on the Link & Learn Taxes Certification Paths tab. The Puerto Rico and Foreign Students tabs are still available.

Link & Learn Taxes is a self-paced training program based on the VITA/TCE tax return preparation process. This training will introduce you to the major components of the VITA/TCE return preparation process and demonstrate how they contribute to your ultimate goal—preparing a complete and accurate return. The scope of each course is limited to tax law covered in the VITA/TCE program.

Click here to see the content of each course.

Returning Students: Individuals who served as volunteer preparers for VITA/TCE in the past and have received previous VITA/TCE training may elect to take the Returning Student course for their certification level. New tax law pertaining to your area of expertise is available for all courses (except Puerto Rico and Foreign Students).

Click here to take the Returning Student course.

Thank you for volunteering your time to provide this much needed service. Enjoy the course.

Getting Started

The Course Introduction lesson provides specific guidance on navigating this site and learning about the features of this application. You should take the recommended course that pertains to your level of experience and to the type of taxpayers with whom you will be working. Ask your sponsor or Site Coordinator for assistance in determining the course for your certification path. If you do not have a sponsor or Site Coordinator, visit www.irs.gov (keyword: Community Network) for additional information or click here.

NOTE: To receive the full benefits of the interactive functionality of this course, you must have JavaScript enabled on your computer. If you cannot enable JavaScript on your computer, an alternative copy of the printed product is available at a volunteer center or through www.irs.gov.

You also need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or later loaded onto your computer. For further information about the forms used in Link & Learn Taxes or to download Acrobat Reader, please click here.

To print various scenarios, forms, and agreements, we recommend that you have access to a printer as you work through Link & Learn Taxes. You may obtain a copy of the Link & Learn Taxes training kit (Publication 4480) from your sponsor or Site Coordinator. The kit contains the Volunteer Resource Guide (Publication 4012), the workbook (Publication 4491-W), and the test/retest (Form 6744). Click here to download the pages in Publication 4491-W and Form 6744 applicable to your course of study from the forms and publication section of www.irs.gov.

Additional Training Modules

Optional Volunteer Standards of Conduct Training and Test

To participate in the VITA/TCE program, all volunteers must complete the Volunteer Standards of Conduct (VSC) training, pass the VSC test, and sign Form 13615. The intent is to provide guidance and a structure for regulating VITA/TCE volunteers and to protect taxpayers. In order to take this training and test, you will first need to go to the VITA/TCE certification test page and register.

Form 13614-C, Intake/Interview & Quality Review Training

Form 13614-C, Intake/Interview & Quality Review training module provides instructions for certified volunteers on how to assist taxpayers with completing the form and how to validate taxpayers' responses during the interview.

Site Coordinator Training

The Site Coordinators Training module was developed for employees and volunteers to ensure Site Coordinators have the information required for operating VITA and TCE sites. This training includes quality site requirements (QSR), tax law and TaxWise updates. In order to take this training, you will first need to go to the VITA/TCE certification test page and register.

Optional Specialty Courses

Optional Cancellation of Debt (COD)

Optional Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

Two optional specialty courses Health Savings Accounts and Cancellation of Debt, are available on Link & Learn Taxes. The Health Savings Accounts course is for volunteers with an Intermediate certification or higher and Cancellation of Debt is for volunteers with Advanced, Military, or International certification. Check with your site coordinator to determine whether you should be certified in either of these lessons. The specialty courses: Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Cancellation of Debt (COD) will also be available in PDF format.

Additional Resources

Course evaluation

We welcome your suggestions for improving your experience, as well as that of the taxpayers you serve. Please complete the electronic evaluation for your course or mail your concerns to:

Internal Revenue Service - Stop 45WI - VITA/TCE Training -
401 West Peachtree Street, NW - Atlanta, GA 30308

Although we cannot respond individually to each letter, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments in future updates to this site.