Volunteer Opportunity
Tax Support Program – Intake Specialist
Program Area:
IRCO Tax Support
Location:
Schedule:
• IRCO Main Campus: 10301 NE Glisan St., Portland, OR, 97220
• IRCO Africa House: 709 NE 102nd Ave Portland, OR 97220
• IRCO Slavic & Eastern European Center: 555 SE 99th Ave Portland, OR 97216
• IRCO Pacific Islander & Asian Family Center: 8040 NE Sandy Blvd. Portland, OR 97213
• IRCO Greater Middle East Center: 4915 SW Griffith Dr. Ste #216 Beaverton, OR 97005
• Main Campus: Every Tuesday & Friday, 9 am-3 pm
• Africa House: Every Monday, 9 am-3 pm
• Slavic & Eastern European Center: Once a month Wednesdays, 9 am-3 pm
• Pacific Islander & Asian Family Center: Once a month Thursdays, 9 am-3 pm
• Greater Middle East Center: Once a month Wednesdays, 9 am-3 pm
Program Description:
IRCO’s Free Tax Support Program collaborates with ODHS and the IRS to provide free tax preparation services to eligible taxpayers. These services are a free, reliable and trusted source for preparing tax returns. Each filing season, volunteers prepare federal and state returns.
This service helps:
- People with low or moderate income, persons with disabilities, the elderly
- Immigrant and refugee community members of Portland and limited English-speaking taxpayers
Position Summary:
Do you have experience with customer service and enjoy meeting new people and making them feel comfortable? As an Intake Specialist, you will greet community members visiting the site to create a pleasant atmosphere. Volunteers in this role will also screen taxpayers to determine the type of assistance they need and confirm they have the necessary documents to complete their tax returns. Basic income tax knowledge is necessary, and IRCO will provide education and training to volunteers.
Some of the languages our clients speak include Vietnamese, Russian, and Spanish, so language skills are a plus! However, interpretation services will be provided when needed. Tax law certification is not required for this position, but volunteers must certify in the open-book Volunteer Standards of Conduct exam and the Intake/Interview & Quality Review Exam. IRCO will provide training resources/courses for certification.
Requirements:
• No experience necessary, just a willingness to learn!
• Open to working with immigrant and refugee communities—multilingual skills are a plus!
• Must be 18 or older
• Must pass background check
• Complete volunteer training
• Pass open book IRS Volunteer Certification Exams (Volunteer Standards of Conduct Exam and Interview/Intake & Quality Review Exam, approx. ~30 mins)
• Attend volunteer orientation
Time Commitment:
Minimum 4 hours per week commitment during tax season (February - April)