Self-Service – A Way of Life

People pump their own gasoline, use automatic bank tellers, and print boarding passes at airline kiosks.  They even scan, pay and bag their own groceries.  Self-service is a widely accepted way of providing more services with fewer resources. With just a little help, people can perform many tasks for themselves.

Here at UConn VITA, we knew that adding a self-service option could expand on our current tax assistance programs.  Our site has historically used one volunteer to assist one taxpayer at a time.  Facilitated Self Assistance (FSA) allows one volunteer to facilitate and help many taxpayers at once.  This not only increases efficiency at our site, but also teaches people about their taxes.  Our hope is that, given professional guidance, our FSA clients will go away with greater knowledge of the income tax system and an increased confidence in their own ability to prepare their own taxes.

How does it work?

• Email us for an appointment at vita.business@uconn.edu.  You need an appointment to make sure we have a computer and Facilitator available for you.
• Gather your tax return information prior to your appointment.
• Download directions to our site.
• When you arrive at your appointment, you’ll be assigned to a trained Facilitator and a laptop station.
• We will introduce you to our TaxSlayer Pro interview-based software (very similar to TurboTax), which helps taxpayers file more accurately.
• As you enter your tax return, you only need to ask for help as you need it.
• When you are done, our Facilitator will review your return and help you to e-file.
• You can then email a copy of your return to yourself, and you are on your way!

PLEASE NOTE:  This is a free service.  Our volunteers are bound by law against accepting any kind of remuneration or benefit for providing this serve.