11/18/2009 8:01: not sure of skill requirment

comeTime	11/18/2009 8:01
OverallSatisfaction	7
PurposeOfVisit	explore vita
CompletedPurpose	No
ValueMost
PurposeNotComplete	I was seeking a place to take classes or another resource in my area. I did find online items. I am still unclear if I(ordinary non-skilled accounting person) could do this training or if I should have accounting background. If so, how much? Because the tax year is confusing to the general public, a more clear explaination such as, training for the tax returns due 4/15/200___; leaving a quicker impression of which tax year is being learned/trained/studied for.
Frequency	This is my first visit ever
Path	Search engine result

Deal visitor at 8:01,

Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience.  I understand that you are trying to find out more about VITA and how to take classes or resources in your area. 

This website receives information about Santa Clara County sites, and online training information for the rest of the country.  The information is obtained from the IRS.gov website, which appears to consider the 2010 season to sometimes refer to the year in which the return is due.  In the context of current activities, the upcoming season from mid-January to mid-April 2010 addresses  the taxes due on income earned in 2009.  I have recently been informed by a SPEC Relationship manager that  the answer to a question I asked is being addressed for FY 2010. So what does that mean?  That it is being addressed for the session in 2010, or that it is for the tax year 2010?  Am I supposed to wait for my answer a couple or months or a year plus a couple of months?  Given that in many cases FY 2010 corresponds to the period July 2009 – June 2010, that makes it even more vague since we are already more than a third way through the fiscal year.

The other question you bring up has a reasonable answer.  You don't need a degree in accounting to be able to do this.  In fact, we have found that many volunteers with accounting backgrounds appear to find it hard to prepare their own income tax returns.

What is required is the ability to read and understand concepts of tax law (and no, you don't need a law degree to do this).  If you can read and make some sense of the training material, you should be able to get yourself certified.