Free income tax help available to the community
For more than a decade, Beta Alpha Psi has been helping students with income tax returns through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, said BAP Vice President Andy Christensen, senior majoring in accounting.
The VITA program provides income tax assistance to low-income individuals, Christensen said. the Internal Revenue Service sponsors the program, said Ryan Larkin, faculty advisor and lecturer in accounting. USU volunteers are trained by the IRS to prepare basic income tax returns, and the volunteers sign a privacy agreement with the IRS, Larkin said. The service is free of charge. The USU VITA site also provides free IRS electronic filing of tax returns, he said.
“We are here to help students take advantage of tax credits that are available to them,” Christensen said. “VITA is like an umbrella to cover low-income students and anyone else who could use the help.”
Larkin said the help is available to anyone who needs help, and other locations are at the Logan City Library and Bridgerland Applied Technology College. Low-income students and families, individuals with disabilities, and foreign students can all benefit from the VITA, Christensen said. Foreign students filing their tax returns can, in the process, get help fulfilling part of the visa requirements he said. Larkin said he thinks foreign students, who make up about 40 percent of those who come in, benefit a lot from the VITA help. He has seen many students come in with their tax returns already filled out, but they have been done incorrectly. “It’s a really great way to do service for this community,” Christensen said. Each BAP member is required to participate in the service project, he said. About 75 business and accounting students have volunteered this year. “We have a lot more volunteers this year than we’ve had in the past so the lines should be shorter,” Larkin said.
VITA begins Saturday, Feb. 16, and goes until April 5. The times are 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays in the Business Building Room 120. When coming to the appointment, Larkin said people need to bring a social security card for each family member on the tax form, photo ID, any tax documents. The prior year tax return is also very helpful, Larkin said.
For more information, go to www.usu.edu/bap/vita.htm.-N.drue.t@aggiemail.usu.edu