VITA Free Tax Preparation
The United Way of Albany County, in partnership with the University of Wyoming College of Business, provides FREE, volunteer-supported income tax preparation to households with an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less.
Location and Contact Information
If you have questions, you can reach out to our staff during office hours, or leave a message and we will return your call. Due to the confidential nature of your tax return, we are unable to discuss your return with you via email.
Lincoln Community Center
365 W. Grand Avenue
Laramie, WY 82070
United Way of Albany County VITA
(307) 464-VITA
What to bring with you…
- W2 forms and any other relevant wage and earning statements
- Identity Protection PIN(s) for any household members.
- If you have been a victim of tax-related identity theft, your tax return may be rejected if it does not include your IP PIN.
- If you have been issued an IP PIN in the past, you will receive a new PIN every year that must be provided to file a tax return using your Social Security Number.
- Learn more and retrieve your IP PIN at the IRS Identity Protection PIN portal.
- Social security number/dates of birth for all household members
- Relevant tax documents including, but not limited to:
- A copy of your latest tax return
- Forms 1099 (1099-INT, 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC)
- Forms 1098
- 1098 Mortgage Interest Statement
- 1098-E Student Loan Interest
- 1098-T Tuition Statement
- Forms 1095 (Health Insurance)
- 1095-A Health Insurance Marketplace Statement
- 1095-B Health Coverage
- 1095-C Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage
- Health insurance exemption certificate if received, 1095-A,B,C, health coverage statements
- Total paid for daycare provider and daycare provider’s tax ID (EIN).
- If Married Filing Jointly and you want to file your tax return electronically, you and your spouse must be present to sign required forms.
- Proof of foreign status if applying for an ITIN.
- Birth dates for you, your spouse, and dependents on the tax return
- Two (2) forms of ID. Examples: Driver’s License, Passport, Social Security Card, Permanent Resident Card, US Citizen ID card or a voter registration card.
Gig Work (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc)
Returns for Uber, Lyft, Doordash, etc. are usually eligible for our program. Please bring documentation for any deductions such as…
- Amenities purchased for your customers, such as charging cables, mints/gum, bottled water, etc.
- Cell phone statements
Schedule
We plan to offer at least 16 tax preparation clinics, with 8 April to be provided as an extra last-minute clinic if there is demand. You can download this schedule to your calendar by visiting our event calendar.
| Monday Clinics 4-8 PM | Wednesday Clinics 4-8 PM | Saturday Clinics 10 AM – 2 PM |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb | ||
| 9 Feb | 11 Feb | |
| 18 Feb | 21 Feb | |
| 23 Feb | 28 Feb | |
| 2 Mar | 4 Mar | |
| 9 Mar | 11 Mar | |
| Spring Break | ||
| 23 Mar | 28 Mar | |
| 1 Apr | ||
| 6 Apr | 8 Apr (tentative) | 11 Apr |
About our program
- This is a FREE tax preparation service for individuals and families.
- Household income must be $75,000 or less
- Returns are private and confidential. Most can be e-filed for the quickest possible refund, usually in 4-8 weeks.
- Sessions will be on select Mondays and Wednesday from 4-8 PM and select Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM in the Lincoln Community Center in West Laramie between February 9 and April 11.
- There will be no sessions during the week of Spring Break at the University of Wyoming (March 16-20)
- We can also prepare out-of-state, past year, and amended tax returns.
- Use the booking calendar below to schedule your appointment- All appointments are in person and can only be scheduled 3 weeks ahead of time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some common questions and answers we receive about our tax preparation program.
Tax returns filed with IRS eFile that have a refund due via direct deposit usually receive their refund within 10-14 business days. IRS processing delays for the Earned Income Credit, or missing/inaccurate information can also lead to delays.
You can visit irs.gov/refunds to track the status of your tax return. You will need to provide the following information:
- Social Security Number
- Tax Year
- Filing Status
- Refund Amount
Bring any tax forms you receive in the mail, from your employer, and any other entities you worked for to your appointment. You
A number of factors influence your refund amount, including changes in legislation, change in marital status, change in adjusted gross income
- Changes to legislation, such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 or the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025
- Change in marital status.
- Change in adjusted gross income.
- Change in household size (add/remove dependent)
Our volunteers consist of United Way staff and board members, as well as students from the University of Wyoming, who receive course credit and tax experience for the program.
If you receive a letter or notice from the IRS requiring action, act immediately. If we prepared the return in question, call us at (307) 464-VITA, option 3, and we will work with you to re-file or resolve the issue.
Yes! We are able to prepare tax returns for 5 tax years, including this year. For our 2026 tax clinics, we can prepare returns for tax years 2020 through 2025.
Generally, we have access to tax returns for the past 5 tax returns. We can provide access to the secure portal and you can print your return yourself, or you can pick up a printed copy of your return at our office.
If you have a question that is not answered by the information on this page, feel free to email office@nullunitedwayalbanycounty.org or call (307) 464-VITA.
Other Resources
If you need assistance with any tax problems or disputes, we recommend contacting the University of Wyoming Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) at 307-766-6114 or toll free at 833-719-2490. Their website is www.uwyo.edu/litc
You can prepare taxes for free using MyFreeTaxes.com. MyFreeTaxes helps people file their federal and state taxes for free. Choose the “File my own taxes” option.
Eligibility
- By law, IRS VITA programs cannot prepare…
- Tax returns with digital currency/cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, NFTs, etc.
- Some self-employment tax returns (Schedule C) including…
- Hobby income or not-for-profit activity
- Professional Gamblers
- Bartering
- Any transactions involving digital assets.
- Method of accounting other than cash (accrual method).
- Taxpayers who do not materially participate in the business.
- Payments made that require Form 1099 to be filed (such as 1099-NEC, for any subcontractors).
- Returns and allowances
- Cost of goods sold (inventory)
- Total expenses over $35,000
- Vehicle expenses reported as actual expenses.
- Contract labor
- Depletion
- Depreciation or returns where Form 4562 is required.
- Expenses for employees
- Car rental or lease more than 30 days (use standard mileage rate method only)
- Casualty losses, amortization
- Business use of home
- Net losses
- Tax returns with rentals (Schedule E), including Airbnb and VRBO–unless
- Taxpayer is active-duty military
- Schedule K-1 (Beneficiary, Partner or Shareholder’s Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, etc) unless it is exclusively any of the following…
- Taxable and tax-exempt interest income
- Dividend and qualified dividends income
- Net short- and long-term capital gains and losses
- Royalty income (Schedule E) with no associated expenses
Please see IRS Pub 4012 pages vi through xxi (in PDF, pages 8 through 23) for a full list of In-Scope and Out-of-Scope scenarios.
If you have questions about whether or not your return can be prepared by our program, please call (307) 464-VITA, option 3 and leave a message. A volunteer from our team will call you back.
Book an Appointment
- Appointments can only be booked 3 weeks in advance.
- If no appointments are available on the calendar, then all time slots are currently booked.
- To increase the chances of being assisted, walk-ins can only be accepted during the first 2 hours of each tax clinic day. Clients that have scheduled appointments will be served first.
- Every tax return is different, and while we make every attempt to serve our clients as quickly as possible, it is possible that there may be a short wait. For prompt service, please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment to fill out our intake paperwork.
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