Roy Turley

IRS Honors Chattanooga Volunteer Tax Preparer

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs are celebrating a milestone - more than 40 years of service to the community. The Internal Revenue Service is joining in the celebration by honoring those VITA and TCE sites and volunteers with 20, 30 or 40 years of service.

Chattanooga resident Roy Turley was recently honored for more than 40 years of service with the VITA/TCE Program.

A career railroad man, Roy started out in tax preparation by helping those closest to him. “I assisted the employees of our railroads with their tax returns and other business affairs for a number of years,” he says.

Roy Turley has made volunteerism into an art, and part of that art for Roy has been helping people with their taxes, which he has done for 40 years as a VITA volunteer.

“When I was a coordinator, I would visit over 144 churches, businesses, government offices, etc., to personally announce our schedule for the filing season,” Roy said.

“I now have third generation taxpayers coming to me for service. They are like family,” according to Roy. “They return after divorce, deaths in the family, mental illnesses, job loss, and other hardships or life changes. It is a privilege to serve them.”

Roy has served for many years as secretary of the deacon body at Ridgeview Baptist Church in Chattanooga. He is also a member of several railroading associations, an honorary member of Beta Alpha Psi, and a life member of the U.S. Tennis Association.

VITA and TCE are IRS-sponsored programs that offer free tax help to low-to-moderate income people who cannot prepare their own tax returns, including the elderly, the disabled and those for whom English is a second language.   IRS-certified volunteers sponsored by various religious, social, and non-profit organizations or the military, receive training to help prepare tax returns in communities across the country. 

Administered by the IRS, the VITA and TCE Programs originated with the Tax Reform Act of 1969, as part of the increased emphasis on taxpayer education.

For the 2010 tax filing season, approximately 12,000 VITA/TCE sites were located in community and neighborhood centers, libraries, schools, shopping malls and other convenient locations nationwide.  Most locations offered free electronic filing and were open through April 15.