Volunteer tax & loan program celebrates 20 years: Alaska Business Development Center helps bring millions back to rural communities.

• Author: Boitz, Mannie
• Position: FINANCIAL SERVICES

Preparing and filing federal income tax returns sounds like a daunting and rather boring chore, but to some this mundane task can be nothing short of a thrill. Just ask the volunteers who participate in the Alaska Business Development Center (ABDC) Volunteer Tax and Loan Program (VTLP).

"I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in such an amazing program. Honestly, the scope and vision of the program is commendable as is the execution of it. Overall, I am thoroughly elated with the entire experience!" This comment was captured in an anonymous volunteer survey conducted at the end of the last tax season.

During the past tax season, VTLP teams traveled to eighty rural villages and assisted an additional forty-nine more through the Anchorage Mail-in Site; assisted over 9,100 taxpayers to include more than 1,000 elders aged sixty years or older and over 1,000 commercial fishing captains, crew members, and industry workers; prepared in excess of 4,800 tax returns and delivered nearly 1,400 education presentations; generated over $6.9 million in tax refunds for rural Alaska residents; and captured nearly $2.7 million in the Earned Income Credit.

The Volunteer

ABDC operates a unique tax program that brings together a base of volunteers who travel to remote areas of the state to assist residents with tax return preparation and provide education on taxpayer rights and responsibilities. This win-win situation provides a hands-on experience and exciting adventure for the volunteers, while at the same time assisting rural taxpayers with becoming compliant with the IRS, as well as receiving tax education and in many cases scoring a tax refund.

When asked if the work and efforts in the communities visited had a positive impact, volunteers responded, "this is the most gratifying part of this volunteer opportunity" and "we were able to explain information that resulted in additional refunds for several community members."

Each year more than eighty volunteers are recruited and trained to travel in teams to hard-to-reach villages across the state. During the past season, VTLP volunteers provided more than 4,700 hours of in-kind service to those in need, not including training and travel time.

ABDC recruits volunteers from local entities, professional associations, and universities located within and outside the state of Alaska. Program volunteers are outgoing, adventurous, caring individuals eager to assist others in need. Many of the volunteers are students from partner universities from Washington state, Idaho...