Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Boston EITC or MTAC partner site. This instructional guide will function as an outline for those that wish to volunteer but may be unsure as to how to make their potential volunteer experience a reality. All the steps necessary to begin training to be a volunteer with the Boston EITC or MTAC partner are listed below. If you have any questions, please feel free to direct them to Matt Lewis at matthew.lewis.jcs@cityofboston.gov.

1. The first step on the road to volunteering is to sign up with this volunteer website. This website will allow you to view and sign up for events. It also allows us to track your progress and contact you about the volunteer experience that you are interested in.

2. Once you have signed up, it is important that you fill out your profile, user information and site preferences as completely as you can. This is also the section in which you can select what type of volunteer position you would like to take on. If you would like to read about the different volunteer positions, you can find them described at www.bostontaxhelp.com under the section "For Volunteers." You can change all of this information later as you see fit or if you change your mind about the site you wish to volunteer at.

3. Now it is necessary for you to become trained for the position that you would like to take on. If you would like to volunteer as a Financial Coach for the new 'Strengthen Your Financial Future' program please contact Jessica Cook and jessica.cook.jcs@cityofboston.gov for an application and more information. If you would like to volunteer as a Credit Advisor, please read below:

If you would like to volunteer as a tax preparer, please read below and signup for the training(s) according to your current status:

• ALL Volunteer Tax Preparers must take and pass the Basic Certification Test.  This can be done on your own (go to our page explaining online certification for more information), or can be done at one of our Basic Tax Prep Testing Sessions (see event calendar for more information).
   
• New Volunteers (Have never prepared tax returns using TaxWise): New volunteers must attend a Basic Tax Prep Training.  This training is 8 hours and is being held at several different locations (see event calendar for more information).  After attending this training, New Volunteers are then eligible to take the Basic Certification Test (see above).  Please Note: If you sign up for a weekday evening session at Learningworks, you need to signup for Part I and Part II (each are 5pm to 9pm).
    
• Returning Volunteers (Have previously prepared tax returns using TaxWise): Returning Volunteers are only required to take and pass the Basic Certification Test.  Returning Volunteers may take this test online, however, we encourage that they attend a Basic Tax Prep Testing Session, as this is the best way to receive the latest tax law updates for the coming tax season.  We also encourage Returning Volunteers to certify through the Intermediate Level (read below for more information).
    
• Tax Professionals (Professional Tax Preparers, Tax Lawyers and Accountants, or other experienced tax preparers):  These volunteers have the option to do their own online training and/or certification (refer here for more information), or they may attend our sessions if they wish. 
    
• Intermediate Level Tax Training and Certification (Open to all volunteers): This option, while open to all volunteers, is mostly designed for Returning Volunteers who wish to increase the scope of returns they can prepare.  Just signup for an Intermediate Tax Prep Training and a Basic & Intermediate Tax Prep Testing Session (again, volunteers can also take this test online on their own if they wish). New volunteers and those with little experience using TaxWise are encouraged to certify up to the basic level before signing up for this training.  ALL volunteers must certify through the Basic Level before taking the Intermediate Certification Test.