Hundreds of low and moderate-income Midcoast workers could overlook important federal tax benefits because they simply don’t know about them.  Thanks to the Midcoast CA$H’s IRS trained and certified volunteer tax preparers, these people can have those benefits identified and get their taxes completed, reviewed for accuracy and filed for free.

For the coming tax season, Midcoast CA$H is looking for five volunteers to become tax preparers, five volunteers to become greeters, and six opportunity guides.

Last year, Midcoast CA$H volunteers helped return over $668,072 of value to the community through saved fees, refunds generated, volunteer hours and other services rendered at the sites.

Volunteers work at sites in Wiscasset, Bath and Brunswick after successfully completing IRS training and certification and a local orientation. Volunteers are asked to do a minimum of four 4-hour shifts. Tax preparation volunteers prepare returns for eligible taxpayers and file them using electronic filing software. The tax preparation training program is comprehensive, all inclusive, and free. No previous tax preparation experience is needed. 

Gene Wiemers, a veteran tax preparer, said, “The success stories follow you home after every tax session and make it seem like one of the best volunteer opportunities around.”

Volunteers serving as greeters are needed to welcome taxpayers, help organize their paperwork, conduct client in-take, and manage the overall flow of service and opportunity guides refer taxpayers to programs and services based on their financial goals and needs using resources provided at the tax site.

“It’s the number of volunteers that we have that determines how many people we can serve.” said Maria Hinteregger, Midcoast CA$H lead.

Midcoast CA$H is a program of the United Way of Mid Coast Maine. Funds are provided by the IRS and locally by Bath Savings Institution, Camden National Bank, Davenport Trust Fund, First Federal Savings, John T. Gorman Foundation, Key Bank, Mid Coast Charitable Foundation, Norway Savings, and United Way of Midcoast Maine. The program is coordinated in conjunction with Goodwill of Northern New England and New Ventures Maine with support from the Internal Revenue Service, community members, social service agencies, businesses, banks, colleges and foundations.

For more information about volunteering email midcoastcash@goodwillnne.org or call Joely at 207-939-3694. Your time spent volunteering yields big returns!