QSR 4: Reference Materials

All sites must have, in paper or electronic form, the following reference materials available for use by IRScertified volunteers:

• Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals)

• Publication 4012, VITA/TCE Volunteer Resource Guide

• Publication 4299, Privacy, Confidentiality, and Civil Rights - A Public Trust

• Volunteer Tax Alerts (VTA) and Quality Site Requirement Alerts (QSRA) or CyberTax Alerts issued by Tax-Aide

The use of reference materials is an important key to preparing an accurate tax return. For example, many errors in tax return preparation occur during the determination of filing status and eligibility for tax credits. Volunteers can make determinations following one of the flow charts or decision trees in Publication 4012. The availability of key tax law reference materials supports the use of these resources and minimizes return errors.

SPEC views security as a high priority. To help with potential security concerns, coordinators must have access to the Publication 4299 at the site during tax preparation hours. Refer to QSR #10 for more information.

Coordinators must review and discuss with their volunteers all VTA or CyberTax Alerts, and QSRA, within seven (7) business days after IRS issuance. VTA and QSRA are emailed out systemically to volunteers listed as site coordinators. The alerts are also available on the Site Coordinator Corner on IRS.gov. CyberTax Alerts are available on the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide website.