Students gain experience from tax return volunteer work
The deadline to file tax returns, Tuesday, April 15, is approaching fast. For many community members and students, "cramming" is not going to be on their schedule, thanks to the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, a project of BU's Student Accounting Association.
A student-run tax assistance program, VITA helps low-income families, the elderly, exchange students and other BU students electronically file their federal and state income tax returns. Student volunteers also provide information on the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the largest federal program for working families.
Students are available to provide tax help every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until Tuesday, April 15, from 4 to 8 p.m., at Wesley United Methodist Church, 130 W. Third St., Bloomsburg.
Last year, VITA helped 141people file their tax returns. This year, the students expect just as many or even more.
"They enjoy it because it is free," said Eric Gockley, head of VITA and a senior accounting major from Stevens in Lancaster County. "And that is why so many people come each year."
"I have been here the last three years," said Rick Hoag, a resident of Stillwater. "The students are helpful. I am quite satisfied overall. My two daughters, a few of their friends and my wife come here, too."
Junior accounting major, Amanda Salko of Drums, is volunteering for the first time with VITA. "I want to help people who can't afford other tax preparers," said Salko. Most student volunteers are junior and senior accounting majors. All student volunteers have to complete and pass the Internal Revenue Service exam and complete a tax filing training session before they are eligible to apply for VITA. Fifty people applied. Not all of them made it.
"I wanted a personal and career insight to see if I really wanted to do public accounting," said Salko. "And I wanted to see how taxes worked."
To use the program, taxpayers must bring this year's tax package, wage and earnings statements for all employers (Form W-2), interest statements from banks (Form 1099), a copy of last year's tax returns and other relevant income and expense information of the taxpayer. Appointments are not necessary.
"We all work together here," said Gockley.
For more information on VITA, contact Blair Staley, associate professor of accounting, at (570) 389-4392.