Accessibility Skip to Top Navigation Skip to Main Content Home  |  Change Text Size  |  Contact IRS  |  About IRS  |  Site Map  |  Español  |  Help  
magnifying glass
Advanced Search   Search Tips

Tax Year 2009 Link & 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! This year’s site has a new look and feel and incorporates additional features of the process-based training method adopted by IRS in 2008.

You will be guided through the process of assisting taxpayers in preparing and filing Forms 1040EZ, 1040A, 1040, 1040NR, 1040NR-EZ, 1040PR, and Form 1040X returns. As reflected in the above tabs, you can take all seven VITA/TCE courses—Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Military, International, Puerto Rico and Foreign Students—on this site. 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.

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 Resources

Additional Training Modules

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)Training

This training module includes the 12 key ARRA provisions that impact taxpayers. Complete this ARRA course to become more familiar with these provisions.

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.

Course Evaluations

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.