Each year during tax season volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) provides accounting students the opportunity to learn how to file taxes and help other students as well as community members file for free.
“What we do is we help income taxpayer’s preparer and file electronically for free,” Associate Professor Dr. Genevieve Scalan said.
The program is open to anyone in the community who made a household income of less than $66,000.
“This includes students and even students in other countries who are here on foreign student visas; we can file for them if they need that,” Dr. Scalan said.
Due to COVID-19 students and community members have two options when filling. They can email vitatamuk@tamuk.edu or call (361) 248-9499 to schedule an in-person or virtual appointment.
“This is some really great experience (for students) because this is the kind of thing accountants do when they’re out there in the world working at their real careers,” Dr. Scalan said.
VITA will continue through April 15 every Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It gives them (students) experience interviewing people and finding out information,” Dr. Scalan continued; “it gives them customer service experience and it gives them experience using tax software, which is something you can’t get just anywhere.”
Students in need of experience are encouraged to volunteer but must pass the VITA test to insure qualification.
“It also gives them (students) some important experience in communication because frequently you have to communicate some complex ideas to someone who is not experienced with that so it’s really helpful to learn how to talk to people and explain accounting to someone who is not an accountant,” Dr. Scalan said.
Virtual income tax appointments will be over email, Blackboard Collaborate and Zoom.
“VITA is really important for students because it helps you put into place what you have learned in your classes and VITA is a great resume builder,” senior accounting major Alexis Acosta said.
Students who volunteer for VITA can list this volunteer work on resumes and may use it as work experience.
“I found it very exciting and heartwarming when clients would tell us how much this meant to them that we were volunteering our time to provide free tax returns,” Bethany Nieto, senior accounting major, said.
For more information about filing, contact VITA at vitatamuk@tamuk.edu or call (361) 248-9499.
