University students are volunteering to help qualifying community members file their federal and state tax returns for free in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
The University's involvement with VITA was revitalized in 2007 when the Law School partnered with Madison House's Creating Assets, Savings and Hope program. This year, the program has attracted more than 100 volunteers from both the Law and undergraduate schools. Through the two organizations, more than 400 tax returns were filed last year. Already this tax season, the group has surpassed the number of returns filed last year, said third-year Commerce student Luke Secosky, who will serve as co-head program director for CASH next year.
Third-year Law student Ben Grosz, president of the Law School's VITA group, attributes much of the success to increased publicity garnered through the group's new partnership with University Human Resources. University employers began to receive an insert explaining VITA with their mailed W-2, a wage and tax statement. Human Resources posted information about the service on its website, as well.
"We saw a huge increase in the number of clients coming and the interest as a result of that partnership," Grosz said.
The increase in demand has forced the VITA program to expand its hours of operation. The growth also has translated into greater demand for volunteers. Two years ago, only 15 Law students participated in VITA compared to the more than 50 involved this tax season.
Many volunteers of the program file a tax return for the first time through VITA, as was the case for third-year Law student Rachel Paul, the site director for the program. Like many of the volunteers, Paul saw this opportunity as a form of service which would mirror her academic interests in tax law. She describes her experience with the volunteer group as "a great way for students to get experience with taxes while having an incredible impact on the community."
Paul emphasized the impact VITA can have on the people it helps.
"The best part [of VITA] is definitely when people come in and don't realize how many credits they are entitled to," she said. "It's great when they leave with $1,000 or $2,000 more than they were expecting, especially because they really need the money."
Third-year Commerce student Mike Mast, who will serve with Secosky as co-head program director for CASH next year, also was initially interested in VITA because of the opportunity to serve others while learning something which may be useful in his future career. Secosky and Mast said they also hope to increase the amount of returns and to make the program more efficient.
"Next year we want to continue to grow the program and serve as many people in Charlottesville community as we can," Mast said.
University volunteers will continue to file tax returns for members of the community by appointment through April 18. To qualify, taxpayers should be United States citizens or residents and have an adjustable income of $49,000 or less, which includes spousal income if filing jointly.
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