Income from work, investments, retirement, social security, jury duty, interest, etc., get reported on the 1040. Here are links to resources to explain the different types of income that are in-scope for the VITA program.  Remember, your PUB 4012 has a list of what is in scope for the VITA program (see page 7) and covers how to enter them in Taxslayer (See Tab D Income)
Click the image below to go to the IRS Link&Learn online interactive Module on Wages, Interest/Dividends, etc.
FYI-Ordinary & Qualified Dividends-- what's the difference? Answer, the rate they are taxed. But have no fear, you don't have to do anything special. Once you enter the Dividend information into the appropriate fields, the system will automatically calculate the correct income tax for the return--you can see the calculations on the Qualified Dividends & Capital Gain Worksheet if you are so inclined to review it. I noticed an income tax liability that was way off for the total income the client earned--it took me a few minutes to realize the qualified dividends were throwing off the calculations from what I was expecting. So, whenever the tax amount seems off to me, I look for this worksheet and have an "a-ha" moment.
Click below for more resources on the following topics:
(and below them are more resources from TON)
Retirement Income Information
Capital Gains/Losses
Self Employment Income Info
Hobby or Business?
Properity Now's TON (Taxpayer Opportunity Network) had VITA Volunteers put together a 12 Module resource in the Fall of 2018 that they called the VITA-Train Below are resources from Module 3: c. Also included below is the link to Dear IRIS letters created by a fabulous teacher and VITA volunteer Brad Martin, from United Way of Southwest Alabama
Click here to check your answers.
Click here to check your answers.
Click here to check your answers.
Click in the image of the Dear IRIS letter  to open a PDF of 3 Dear Iris letters followed by Iris' response. This wonderful and creative resource was written by a fabulous teacher and VITA volunteer Brad Martin, from United Way of Southwest Alabama.
You can access all 12 Modules of the VITA Train by clicking here
VITA-Train
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You can contact me at maryvitataxes@gmail.com 
Please note: I, Mary Meador, AM NOT a certified accountant or tax law expert. I volunteer with VITA providing free tax preparation for individuals and families whose income is less than $66,000 a year. We deal with simple returns at our sites.  I cannot guarantee the accuracy of all the information on this site as tax laws change and I may not have a clear understanding of complicated issues. I am trying to provide basic tax preparation information for our volunteers to get started--remember Publication 4012 is your go-to resource for questions, as well as irs.gov and Publication 17. ​