Pisgah Legal Services Tax Screening Form

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Thank you for your interest in the Pisgah Legal Services Health and Economic Opportunity Program!

We operate an IRS VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) site. This means that our staff and volunteers are certified by the IRS to prepare tax returns, but there are limitations on what the IRS permits us to help with.

Here are a few things to know about the limitations of our services.

  1. We can assist with tax returns for 2020-2023 only. In addition to tax returns, we can help create an IRS account, trace stimulus payments, and request account transcripts (for Federal W-2 and 1099 information). For other tax issues, especially if you received a letter from the IRS, please call the Pisgah Legal Services front desk at 828-253-0406 and request tax legal services - make sure to say "lawyer," "attorney," or "legal help" in order to get to the right place. You can also contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service at taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov.
  2. We work with folks whose household taxable income is below $60,000 for the relevant tax year. (Note that the legal team has different screening requirements.) If your household income is more than $60,000 but less than $79,000, please continue with the form to access our free self-service filing link for 2023. For household incomes above $79,000 or years other than 2023, you may need to visit a paid preparer. Here is the IRS preparer directory.
  3. Our grant allows us to help folks who live within the 18 counties of Western North Carolina: Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, and Yancey. If you do not live within one of these counties, you can look for a VITA site in your area here.
  4. We are required to confirm taxpayers' identities with something from the Social Security Administration, such as a social security card (we can take copies), a SSA-1099 with your full social on it, or an ITIN document.
    NOTE: If you need assistance getting an ITIN, please continue with this form.
  5. We also need to see a valid (not expired) ID, which cannot be a copy. Photo IDs include: valid driver’s license (U.S.), employer ID, school ID, state ID (U.S.), Military ID, national ID, visa, or passport.
  6. There are many specific tax situations that the IRS determines out of scope for our services. If your return includes any of these situations, we are not permitted to help prepare it for that tax year. Please see the next page for a questionnaire of the most common out of scope situations. If your return is out of scope, you can use our free self-service filing link for 2023 if you live in the 18 counties we serve.
To initiate our online screening and scheduling process, please fill out the form below.

If you are not sure if we can help, have questions about these parameters, or would prefer to screen over the phone, please call us at 828-210-3404 (press 2 for taxes).








If you do not have an email address, please call us at 828-210-3404 (press 2 for taxes) to screen over the phone.



*"An ITIN, or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, is a tax processing number only available for certain nonresident and resident aliens, their spouses, and dependents who cannot get a Social Security Number (SSN)." For more information, click ITIN above.

If you do not have a valid ID or you have been issued a social security card/ITIN letter and no longer have a copy of it, you will need to replace the document before working with us.








We need some more information to see if you qualify for our services. If you don't know the below dates, please complete this form later. We keep this information confidential.
NOTE: If you leave either first or last day blank, our form will assume you were present for 0 days that year.
For H2A holders, this might be the date on your visa.













If none, make sure to only check "None of the above"


If none, make sure to only check "None of the above"


If none, make sure to only check "None of the above"


If none, make sure to only check "None of the above"