The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recently conducted an audit of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program. The 38-page audit, Improvements Are Needed to Ensure Tax Returns Are Prepared Correctly at Internal Revenue Service Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Sites (2004-40-154), has this disturbing conclusion:

In an attempt to have tax returns prepared, from February through April 2004 Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration auditors anonymously visited 44 VITA sites nationwide acting as taxpayers and presenting facts based on scenarios designed around income reporting, filing status, exemptions, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). Of the 35 tax returns prepared, none were prepared correctly.

November’s "Shop Talk" column in the Journal of Taxation has an interesting report on the audit, concluding that they "are appalled at a zero accuracy rate for the VITA Program, notwithstanding the good intentions of its proponents and volunteers."