Form 13424-F – How to Track Volunteer & Pro Bono Hours

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The first 13424-F batch that hit my review queue had volunteers logging minutes as whole numbers, writing the back half of an hour into a column the IRS labels in hours. The report was due in eleven days, and the TOTALS row was meaningless because the inputs were wrong before any math started.

Form 13424-F is the IRS Volunteer / Pro Bono Time Reporting form, used by Low Income Taxpayer Clinics to log donated hours by activity as required under OMB Circular A-110. Time goes in as decimal hours, so 15 minutes is .25 and 30 minutes is .5, spread across twelve activity columns from client consults to court representation. The 4-2010 revision, Catalog Number 54952J, is the current one.

Key Takeaways

• Form 13424-F is the IRS Volunteer / Pro Bono Time Reporting form (Rev. 4-2010, Catalog Number 54952J), used by Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs) to log donated volunteer and pro bono time.
• Per OMB Circular A-110, LITCs are required to track the time volunteers spend on LITC activities, so this log is a federal grant administration requirement, not an internal best practice.
• Each row identifies the work with three fields: Volunteer’s Name, Activity Date, and Case ID (if applicable).
• Time is reported in hours across 12 activity categories: Consult with client, Represent before the IRS, Represent in Court, Court Filing, Prepare IRS Appeal, Research, Translation, Outreach, Clerical assistance, Return Prep, Intake, and Education.
• Hours are recorded in quarter-hour increments (.25 hours), and a TOTALS row sums the columns.
• This is not an individual tax return and has no filing deadline of its own; clinics use it to support grant and program reporting.

What Is Form 13424-F?

Form 13424-F is the IRS’s Volunteer / Pro Bono Time Reporting form. It’s designed to document the time volunteers and pro bono professionals spend on client work and related activities, using consistent categories.

On the form itself, the IRS states it’s used to document time volunteers or pro bono members use to resolve a client’s issue(s), and it references LITC tracking requirements (specifically, the form’s header cites OMB Circular A-110, which makes volunteer time tracking a federal grant administration requirement for LITCs – not an internal best practice, and not optional).

What it’s for (plain English)

You use Form 13424-F to create a simple paper trail that answers:

• Who did the work (volunteer’s name)
• When the work happened (activity date)
• Which client/case it relates to (case ID, if applicable)
• What kind of work it was (consulting, representation, research, translation, outreach, intake, etc.)
• How many hours were spent (in hours, by activity category)

It’s a time log, but it’s structured enough that someone else can review it and trust it.

Who Uses Form 13424-F (and Why)

This form shows up most often with Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs) and similar programs that need consistent documentation for donated time.

The IRS’s Internal Revenue Manual even includes a direct note suggesting Form 13424-F as a way to track donated time when a clinic’s procedures are not strong enough.

Common users

• Volunteer attorneys supporting taxpayer representation
• CPAs and enrolled agents (EAs) doing pro bono tax controversy help
• Clinic coordinators and program managers who need totals by volunteer, case, or time period
• Supervisors who need a consistent format to verify hours

Why it matters more than people expect

Hours tracking can feel “administrative,” but it often connects to real outcomes:

• Grant or program reporting
• Volunteer recognition and retention
• Internal review and compliance checks
• Avoiding last-minute backtracking when reports are due

This is one of those small operations habits that keeps a program stable.

Release Date and “Is This Still Valid?”

Here’s the clean way to say it, without guessing.

• The PDF is labeled Form 13424-F (4-2010) and “Rev. April 2010.”
• In the IRS forms library, the entry for Form 13424-F shows Revision Date: Apr 2010 and Posted Date: 07/17/2012.

So yes, it’s an official IRS form and it’s still hosted by the IRS. Also yes, it’s an older revision – but the 4-2010 version is the current and only in-force one. The IRS has not reissued Form 13424-F since April 2010, so there is no newer revision year to search for.

What that does not mean is that it’s “a form for filing your 2023 taxes” (or any other year). It’s a tracking form. You use it when your program requires it, or when it makes your reporting cleaner.

Where to Download Form 13424-F (Safest Option)

You’ll see Form 13424-F hosted on various third-party form sites. Some of those copies are fine, but if you want the cleanest, safest route, use the IRS PDF.

The official IRS PDF is f13424f.pdf.

Quick download checklist (so you don’t waste time)

• Confirm the title says “Volunteer / Pro Bono Time Reporting” (the “-F” suffix matters – Form 13424 without a suffix is the LITC Program Plan, and other suffixes in the 13424 series cover different LITC reports, so an unsuffixed PDF is the wrong form).
• Confirm the footer shows “Form 13424-F (4-2010)” and Catalog Number 54952J.
• Save a blank copy somewhere your team can find again next month.

How to Fill Out Form 13424-F (Step by Step)

Form 13424-F is refreshingly simple. It’s one page. No instructions booklet. No “Schedule A for Schedule B.”

But the simplicity is also the trap. When people mess this up, it’s usually because they treat it like a casual note instead of a record someone else will rely on.

Here’s a practical, low-friction way to fill it out so it stays useful.

Step 1: Add the volunteer’s name

The form starts with Volunteer’s Name.

Best practice: use the person’s full name as it appears in your clinic or program roster. Consistency matters if you later need totals by volunteer (and use one Form 13424-F per volunteer – the Volunteer’s Name field appears once in the header, so a team of five volunteers needs five separate forms, not one shared sheet).

Step 2: Add the activity date

Next is Activity Date.

Best practice: log the date the work happened, not the date you remembered to do paperwork. If a program ever needs to reconcile activity by reporting period, this is what keeps you out of trouble.

Step 3: Add the Case ID (if applicable)

The form includes Case ID (if applicable).

If your program uses case numbers, use them. If it doesn’t, don’t force it. You can also align this with whatever your internal system uses (matter number, client ID, intake reference).

Step 4: Log hours by activity type (the part people rush)

This is the heart of the form. The categories include items like:

• Consult with client
• Represent before the IRS
• Represent in Court
• Court Filing
• Prepare IRS Appeal
• Research
• Translation
• Outreach
• Clerical assistance
• Return Prep
• Intake
• Education

Best practice: treat this like time entry. If you did 1.5 hours total, split it honestly across categories – using decimal hours, not raw minutes (15 minutes is .25, 30 minutes is .5, 45 minutes is .75; entering “15” for 15 minutes would overstate the row by a factor of 60). That’s what makes the data usable later.

Step 5: Add totals

The bottom of the form includes TOTALS.

Double-check the math. Not because you’ll get “audited” as a volunteer, but because totals are usually what the program needs for reporting (and the TOTALS row sums hours per activity column across all dates, not per date across all activities – it is designed to surface aggregate effort by activity type for program-level LITC reporting).

What Information You Should Gather Before You Start

This form is easiest when you fill it out right after the work is done. If you’re doing it at the end of the week (or month), gather this first:

• Calendar entries or appointment notes
• Case/matter ID (if your program assigns one)
• Quick summary of what you did (consult, research, representation)
• Your time estimate while it’s still fresh

A simple “done in 90 seconds” workflow

If you want this to be painless, use this routine:

• Immediately after the call/meeting, jot the minutes spent.
• Convert minutes to hours (e.g., 45 minutes becomes 0.75).
• Enter it into the form the same day.
• Save the PDF using a consistent file name.

That’s it. That’s how you avoid the “what did I do last month?” scramble.

Common Mistakes That Make the Form Hard to Trust

These show up in almost every clinic log I review. None of them are volunteer errors – they are template errors that propagate until one reviewer owns the form.

Does Form 13424-F Create a Tax Deduction?

This is where a lot of articles get sloppy, so let’s be careful.

Volunteer time is not deductible

The IRS is clear that you cannot deduct the value of your time or services as a charitable contribution. Publication 526 even gives a straight example, “Can I deduct $60 a week for my time?” and the answer is no.

The IRS also states the same concept in its guidance for volunteers working disaster relief, the value of time and services is not deductible.

Some out-of-pocket volunteer expenses may be deductible

Even though your time isn’t deductible, some unreimbursed expenses can be deductible if they’re directly connected to the volunteer service and meet IRS rules. Publication 526 outlines the conditions.

Examples (depending on facts):

• Supplies you purchased and were not reimbursed for
• Certain uniform costs (if required and not suitable for everyday wear)
• Travel costs tied directly to providing the volunteer services

Mileage rate for charitable driving (good to know for 2026)

As of January 1, 2026, the IRS confirmed the charitable mileage rate remains 14¢ per mile (set by statute).

Important note: Tax rules are detail-heavy. Whether you can deduct anything depends on the organization, your itemizing status, substantiation, and the type of expense. If deductions are part of why you’re tracking anything, talk to a tax pro.

Filing, Submission, and Deadlines (What Actually Happens)

One of the biggest misconceptions is thinking Form 13424-F “goes to the IRS.”

In most cases, it doesn’t.

Form 13424-F is a program record. Your clinic, sponsor, or coordinating organization tells you:

• whether to submit it,
• how often,
• and who signs off.

The IRS does not present it as something you attach to an individual tax return (taxpayers never file Form 13424-F with their own returns – it is an LITC grantee record under OMB Circular A-110, retained by the clinic and submitted to the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service’s LITC Program Office as part of grant reporting, not the Form 1040 ecosystem). What the IRS does show is that this form exists for volunteer/pro bono time reporting and it’s recognized in the LITC operating environment.

Typical submission cadences you’ll see

Programs set their own rhythm. Common patterns include:

• Monthly submission (keeps reporting clean)
• Quarterly submission (common for organizations with quarterly grant reporting)
• Year-end only (the “please don’t make me remember everything in December” option)

If you manage the program, pick the cadence that avoids backlogs. If you’re a volunteer, follow the program’s rule and keep a copy.

Recordkeeping: How Long Should You Keep Form 13424-F?

There isn’t one universal retention rule that fits everyone because this form can support different types of reporting.

Here’s a practical way to think about it:

• If it supports grant reporting, keep it at least as long as the grant or sponsor requires.
• If it supports financial match documentation or formal program reviews, keep it long enough to cover that review cycle.
• If it supports any tax deduction claims (usually for out-of-pocket expenses, not time), keep it long enough to substantiate your return.

The IRS’s volunteer recordkeeping guidance for deductible out-of-pocket expenses stresses keeping written, reliable records created around the time the expense was incurred.

A simple retention approach most programs can live with

If you need a baseline policy (and your sponsor doesn’t specify one), many organizations choose something like:

• Keep signed PDFs for 3 to 7 years, depending on program needs and legal counsel advice.

If you’re unsure, ask your program lead. It’s better to be slightly over-organized than to have no records when someone asks for them.

How to Store Form 13424-F Securely (Without Turning It Into a Project)

Even though Form 13424-F is “just hours,” it can still include sensitive context like case IDs, and those case IDs can be linkable to client matters.

So treat storage with basic discipline.

Practical security checklist

• Store the completed PDF in a restricted folder (least privilege, only people who need it).
• Use a standard naming convention so files can be found quickly.
• Avoid local-only storage if your program has turnover, laptops get replaced, and people leave.

Here’s a naming convention that works well:

• 13424-F_VolunteerName_YYYY-MM-DD_CaseID.pdf

E-signatures: allowed or not?

Form 13424-F itself is a PDF. Whether an electronic signature is acceptable depends on your sponsor or organization’s internal policy.

If you’re managing the program, write this rule down clearly:

• “Wet signature required” or “E-sign acceptable, audit trail required.”

Clarity beats debate.

A Quick Table: What to Track, Why It Matters, and What Breaks When You Don’t

What you track on Form 13424-F	Why it matters	What breaks when it’s missing
Volunteer’s name	Totals, reporting, recognition	Duplicate records, missing hours
Activity date	Reporting period accuracy	Backdating, mismatched quarters
Case ID (if applicable)	Traceability to matters	Confusing totals, poor audit trail
Hours by category	Shows what work was done	“All time looks the same,” weaker reporting
Total hours	Roll-ups for dashboards and reports	Manual recalculation, errors

This is why one-page forms stay popular. You get structure without a full timesheet system.

How This Connects to Delivery (and Why It Matters to Accounting Teams)

If you’re reading this on Accountably.com, you already know the bigger theme.

Most firms and programs don’t fall apart because people don’t care. They fall apart because process gets fuzzy, and fuzzy process creates late work, rework, review loops, and burnout.

Time tracking is the same story in miniature.

When you treat documentation like an afterthought, you end up with:

• missing support,
• unclear ownership,
• and last-minute scrambles that feel avoidable (because they are).

At Accountably, we spend a lot of time helping accounting teams build delivery structure that doesn’t collapse under volume. Form 13424-F is not an offshore delivery topic, but the mindset is identical. Capacity without structure turns into chaos.

So if you’re running a clinic or managing volunteers, the takeaway is simple:

• Don’t wait for the report deadline to create the record.

When to Use Form 13424-F vs. Another Volunteer Log

Form 13424-F is helpful, but it’s not the only way to track volunteer work. Use it when its structure matches your needs.

Use Form 13424-F when you need consistency

Form 13424-F is a great fit when:

• Your program wants a standard IRS-recognized format for tracking donated time.
• You want categories that already match common clinic work (consult, research, outreach, intake, etc.).
• You need something volunteers can complete quickly without learning a new system.

Use a different tool when you need deeper operational tracking

A basic one-page form starts to strain when you need:

• task codes by project
• approvals by multiple supervisors
• time capture tied to client outcomes, not just hours
• automatic roll-ups by month/quarter without manual work

If you’re at that stage, you may still keep Form 13424-F as a backup or for audit readiness, but you’ll rely on a system (timekeeping software, case management platform, or workflow tools) for daily operations.

“Valid for 2023 taxes” and other confusing claims you might see online

Some third-party sites label forms with language like “valid for filing 2023 taxes.”

Here’s the clearer interpretation for Form 13424-F:

• The form is official and hosted by the IRS.
• It is not presented as a form you file with Form 1040 or attach to a return.
• It can still be used in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 as a time reporting record, if your organization accepts it.

If your question is “Will this form help me claim a deduction for my volunteer hours?” the answer is no, volunteer time itself isn’t deductible.

Common Form 13424-F Mistakes (and quick fixes)

Mistake 1: Treating categories as optional

Fix: pick the category that best describes the work. If you did multiple things, split the time across categories.

Mistake 2: Forgetting to capture “small” time

Those quick 10-minute calls and short emails add up.

Fix: track them on the day they happen. If you wait, they disappear.

Mistake 3: No internal review, no spot checks

If you manage a program, don’t assume every form will be completed consistently.

Fix: do a monthly spot check of a small sample. Look for:

• missing dates
• totals that don’t add up
• inconsistent case IDs
• obvious rounding patterns

Mistake 4: Over-collecting sensitive info

Form 13424-F doesn’t ask for client names, and that’s a feature.

Fix: avoid adding extra personal data in file names or notes. Use case IDs where your program already has access controls.

Reusable Checklists

Three SOP-ready checklists for clinic directors, volunteer coordinators, and grant administrators. Paste them into your LITC operations manual so the discipline survives any one team member leaving the program.

Keep 13424-F Season From Stalling

Clinic directors I work with say the same thing every grant cycle: volunteer hours feel under control until the LITC Program Office report is due, and then the gaps surface. Half the time it is not the volunteers, it is a tracking system that lets activity bleed across the wrong columns, or a missing Case ID on a row that needed one, or thirty minutes recorded as the number 30 instead of .5. According to IRS.gov, the 4-2010 revision remains the in-force version for the 2025 grant year, and OMB Circular A-110 still treats this tracking as a federal grant compliance requirement, not optional internal hygiene.

None of those failures need a bigger team. They need a small set of habits, applied the same way every week, with one person owning the column totals.

• Run one form per volunteer. Form 13424-F holds a single name in the header, so a team of eight needs eight active forms refreshed weekly, not one shared sheet rebuilt at quarter-end.
• Log time in decimal hours, never in minutes. 15 minutes is .25, 30 minutes is .5, 45 minutes is .75. Build the conversion into your intake template so volunteers never type a raw minute count into an hours column.
• Split allocable days across columns on a single row. A volunteer who consulted, researched, and ran an outreach session on the same date gets one row with hours distributed across consult, research, and outreach columns, not three separate rows.
• Leave Case ID blank for non-case work. Outreach, taxpayer education, and general program time do not tie to a single client controversy. Forcing a Case ID there breaks your reporting and frustrates the volunteer logging it.
• Reconcile the TOTALS row weekly, not quarterly. The TOTALS row sums each activity column across the grant period. Catching a column mis-allocation in week three is a five-minute fix; catching it in month nine is a rebuild.

When LITC delivery keeps colliding with the rest of your season work, our tax delivery teams handle volunteer time aggregation, totals review, and grant report preparation alongside your filing work, so the LITC reporting calendar stops competing for senior attention.

FAQs

What is IRS Form 13424-F used for?

Form 13424-F is used to record volunteer and pro bono time, mainly in the context of Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs) and similar programs. It logs the volunteer’s name, activity date, case ID (if applicable), and hours by activity category.

Do I file Form 13424-F with my tax return?

Usually, no. Form 13424-F is a time reporting and documentation form, not something the IRS describes as an attachment to Form 1040. You submit it based on your program’s rules and keep copies for your records.

Can Form 13424-F help me claim a tax deduction for volunteering?

It can support good recordkeeping, but it does not make your volunteer time deductible. The IRS says you can’t deduct the value of your services, but you may be able to deduct some unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses if you meet IRS requirements.

Where can I download the official Form 13424-F PDF?

You can download it from the IRS as a one-page PDF labeled Form 13424-F (4-2010) with Catalog Number 54952J.

What’s the charitable mileage rate for volunteer driving in 2026?

For January 1, 2026 and onward, the IRS confirmed the charitable mileage rate remains 14¢ per mile.