We refer to the letters ‘Why I’ll never volunteer again’ (TODAY, 27 May 2010) and ‘Don’t kill the passion to volunteer’ (ST Forum Online, 31 May 2010) by Mr Tan Tiong Heng.

We have contacted Mr Tan and apologised to him for his unpleasant experience as a first time e-Filing volunteer. We are also sorry for the miscommunication about the award and the delay in sending the certificate of appreciation to him. Mr Tan has since received his certificate of appreciation. We have also counselled our officers to be more helpful to our volunteers at Fuchun CC.

We would like to take this opportunity to share that the Volunteer e-Filing Service (VES) is a joint community project by IRAS and CitizenConnect centres at the community clubs started in 2005. The VES is in essence a community service by the community for the community. Volunteers including those from schools, non-profit organisations, community groups and active volunteers participate in VES to help the less IT-savvy taxpayers to e-File. IRAS organises hands-on e-Filing training sessions for the volunteers and equip them with basic income tax information before they commence their volunteering sessions at the CitizenConnect centres.

e-Filing has been made simple and easy for taxpayers as most of the income and tax relief claims have already been pre-filled for them. Hence, volunteers usually only need to help taxpayers navigate the e-Filing system and file their tax returns via the Internet. Tax queries that are more complex are directly channelled to IRAS to handle.

We thank Mr Tan for his feedback which will help us improve the VES, and enhance the experience of our volunteers going forward.