Tax Time Savings for Native Communities: Ten Best Practices for Effective Native VITA Programs

Most rural Native VITA sites, unlike urban VITA sites, face a unique set of challenges. The geographic isolation, low volunteer retention rates, economically distressed communities, and overall distrust of the federal government among many Native Americans can limit the success of traditional VITA site models (i.e., models developed by the IRS). In this report, we propose some best practices designed to address these unique challenges.