The federal and state tax deadline may be several weeks away, but many students, faculty and Eugene residents are already taking early advantage of free tax advice and assistance from University students.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program offers state and federal tax help to people with incomes less than $37,000. The fifth-year program is organized by the Beta
Alpha Psi scholastic fraternity and is staffed by accounting students from the Lundquist
College of Business and students from the Knight Law Center’s pro bono program.
VITA is open every Saturday in the Lillis Business Complex in room 455 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. through April 15, except for March 25 and April 1.
According to site coordinator and junior accounting major Jon Campo, around 15 to 20 student volunteers are working at the site each Saturday, with half of them certified to assist in filling out tax forms. Campo said that they expect to assist an average of 30 to 40 people every Saturday.
“I could easily see us processing over 300 tax returns this year,” Campo said. “As it approaches April 15, I think it’s going to pick up a lot.”
Campo said last year they worked with AARP, but this year they are going solo and have more independence and responsibility.
Volunteers become certified to help fill out tax returns by completing an online program and passing a test on the Internal Revenue Service’s Web site.
Students are expected to take the test every year to make sure that they are up to date with new and current tax laws.
“It’s a pretty extensive test,” Campo said. “I think it takes about 10 hours total.”
Senior accounting major and Beta Alpha Psi secretary Christina Davis said that VITA was open for only four days last year, but it was expanded to eight days this year because a high volume of people showed up. Davis said most people who arrived for help were students at the University, but many community members also arrived ater being referred by the library, where free tax assistance is also offered.
Junior general science major Angela Ko said this year was her first year using VITA because before she had always had assistance from people at home. She attended because it was free, convenient and she didn’t know where to start on the forms, she said.
Eugene resident Greg Holman said this was also his first year using VITA because he used the library’s services before.
“I went to the library to fill out the forms, and they highly recommended that I come here,” Holman said. “I need aid in filling out the forms, and also to see if I can get anything back.”
Eugene residents Heather Reagan and Jamie Dodds also said they were referred to VITA by the library and they came because of the convenience.
Campo said simple tax forms can take between 45 minutes to one hour, with the average person in and out in less than two hours.
Depending on how technical the forms are, the process can take even longer. If the tax returns are too technical, volunteers provide a list of places that offer free or paid services.
The effectiveness of VITA is rated by how many tax returns are submitted and accepted by the IRS. Campo said they keep each person’s contact information on hand in case there is a problem with the tax returns not being accepted.Davis said it’s a good idea for students to fill out tax returns if they have a job where taxes are taken out of their pay check.
To have their tax returns prepared, each person should bring photo identification, social security cards and birth dates for each taxpayer and dependents, wage and earning statements from employers, interest and dividend statements from banks, a copy of last year’s federal and state returns if available, bank routing numbers and account numbers for direct deposit, and other relevant information about income and expenses. Both spouses need to be present if filing on a married joint tax return.
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