Loyola University College of Law students are attempting to provide a cost efficient way to get taxes done.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program at Loyola, or VITA, allows low-to-moderate-income taxpayers to receive free tax preparation. The majority of the volunteers are law students fulfilling their Law and Poverty requirement, which requires students to either enroll in one of various courses focusing on poverty or perform 50 hours of volunteer pro bono legal services.
“This is an opportunity for the students to give back, meet people on a personal level, sitting down, face to face, with a client sharing their personal financial life with you,” said Andrew Piacun, VITA site coordinator and College of Law budget director.
The program was started by the Internal Revenue Service to serve those unable to afford professional tax preparation. It was founded at Loyola by Bill Neilson, an associate professor at the College of Law, in 1983 and has been running continuously since then.
“As a Jesuit institution it is our goal to help others and VITA does just that. It gives the student VITA volunteers experience in client contact, a small view of the tax world and the satisfaction of helping low income taxpayers,” Neilson said.
In order to volunteer, students must be trained and certified by the IRS.
“I chose to participate in VITA because it offers me and my fellow students an opportunity both to learn more about how taxation works, and to put our skills to use helping the community around us,” said Andy Prihoda, a second year law student.
Volunteers will prepare forms such as 1040 EZ, 1040 and 1040A but will not handle complicated forms.
“We have had musicians, artists and local radio station DJs; students and parents; service personnel and shift workers come to our site,” Prihoda said.
Piacun believes that the program allows students to attain a connection between clients, preparing them for their career.
“Once you become a professional lawyer, you have a valuable skill … you can provide a lot of benefits to people. We give this opportunity to students so they can experience what good they can do,” Piacun said.
The program has been held every Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in room 202 of the Broadway Activities Center, located on the Broadway campus. The program will not have a session April 3 and the final session for the year on is April 12. On March 27 and April 10, the program will be offered at the Community Center of St. Bernard Parish from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Participants should bring tax returns and all other tax documents, proof of identification and Social Security cards for each member of their household.
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