Volunteer Resources

Material here is public information and is provided as an easier way to access things that I would otherwise post on HuskyCT.  Please feel free to let me know if you would like to see anything else included here!

Basic Certification Resources

This website was created to provide public access to our training materials for outside partners. Anyone enrolled in, or volunteering for, UConn's VITA site can find these same materials in HuskyCT, Module 2.

Advanced Certification Resources

I wholeheartedly applaud your interest in Advanced Certification!
Accordingly, I've come up with everything I can think of to make it as painless as possible, while still giving you an appropriate level of learning.

This resource is simply amazing. Anything I created would be a shadow of it!

That said, it is still pretty daunting. I did make my own notes on the Advanced Certification Questions, which are a bit more direct and simple. I included links and stuff like that to make it easier to go straight to the easiest source.  That document and others just for you guys are included below.

Publication 6744 Advanced Certification scenarios and questions, with Leanne's notes

Publication 4012, VITA/TCE Volunteer Resource Guide

Health Savings Account training pages from Publication 4491

Once, you are done, you can check your answers here before completing the certification at the IRS Testing Site!

Foreign Student/Scholar Certification Resources

Welcome!

You’re in the right place! These materials are designed to support the Foreign Student & Scholar Certification process and to help ensure tax returns for international students and scholars are prepared accurately and consistently. Whether you’re a student, volunteer, or visitor learning more about this area, everything here is meant to make working with foreign student and scholar taxpayers clearer and more approachable — with guidance aligned to Internal Revenue Service requirements.

Your go-to resource is Publication 4011, VITA/TCE Foreign Student and Scholar Volunteer Resource Guide

The videos provided here are those I (Leanne Adams, UConn Accounting Instructor in-Residence) prepared for the 2025 tax season. This year, 2026, I made one Video Quiz for my students, which would be much more daunting for you to view. Nonresident Alien tax law has not changed substantially. Changes for 2025 are detailed on page 2 of Publication 4011.

If you are planning to come to our in-class training session, you should watch the video first, without the quiz questions popping up to complete. You can find that here!

Other helpful resources:

  1. 1040-NR Manual - written by yours truly! This manual was written for my VITA students, to give them guidance as they prepare a Nonresident Alien return step-by-step, to help them be more confident and efficient, and to avoid the most common errors.
  2. How to enter a 1042-S - these are pages of the manual linked above, for your convenience.
  3. Form 1042-S, Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income
  4. Form 8843, Statement for Exempt Individuals
  5. Foreign Student and Scholar Course Scenarios and Test Questions I'll hand this out in class, so you don't need to print it. I just put it here in case you found it helpful.
  6. Publication 4012, VITA/TCE Volunteer Resource Guide
  7. VITA Scope of Service
  8. VITA Foreign Student/Scholar Scope of Service