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Accounting department files taxes for a cause

In an effort to both aid Peoria locals and provide accounting students with real-world job experience, Bradley’s accounting department is reintroducing the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program this year.

VITA is a volunteer opportunity for accounting students, which has not been integrated since 2003. Thanks to a recent service demand and high student spirit, VITA began its first stage of implementation in January, according to Assistant Accounting Professor Bill Bailey.

“We got contacted by a nonprofit group called METEC, an employment and housing specialist for low-income families,” Bailey said. “One program they offer is VITA. They’ve lost nearly three-quarters of their tax return preparers this year to retirement, so they were in desperate need of preparers and reached out to Bradley.”

According to Bailey, VITA is designed to complete tax returns for low-income households in need, and Peoria communities can benefit from it the most.

“The VITA program is for taxpayers with incomes under $54,000 or [are] disabled or have some other significant need,” Bailey said. “METEC last year prepared over 800 returns and secured $1 million [in] one of the poorest zip codes in the country. Unemployment is over 20 percent; the median income is roughly $21,000. There is an opportunity to do significant good as far as getting money back into the pocket, which our laws have determined [we] can benefit from in ways that both help the economy and working families.”

While completing tax returns has many benefits to the community, Bailey said the biggest of all is the earned income credit – a tax refund based on income and number of claimed dependents.

“Most of the zip code we are serving [are] the 60605 area code,” Bailey said. “A lot will have qualified for the earned income credit, which is basically the government saying they will give them a couple thousand for actually working.”

Not only does VITA benefit Peoria’s community, but it also helps those who offer their volunteer tax services as well.

“It’s fantastic because it has experiential learning,” said Bailey. “It is a fantastic confidence-booster. I saw significant changes in confidence [in] students from the first minute we started doing tax returns to the last minute, just a few hours later … Students gained knowledge of the Affordable Care Act, income credits and retirement income. It’s a great resumé builder [because] these experiences speak for themselves.

Helping with VITA is no easy task. According to Bailey, it eats up volunteers’ free time on weekends and requires enthusiasm.

“Volunteers must go through six hours’ worth of crash courses,” Bailey said. “They must study on their own some of the basic rules of ethics and IRS code of conduct, [and] they have received training in interviewing certification. All of these sessions occur on during students’ free time on Saturday mornings, where they give up [in total] nearly 15 hours in training and 15 hours in actual service.”

Although VITA is time consuming, students involved in the volunteer tax service do not seem to mind committing their free time for a good cause. Derek Dragoo, senior accounting major, said the commitment is worthwhile because it allows him to create bonds with Bradley’s accounting department and Peoria’s community.

“I would definitely say that the VITA program is helping to prepare me for the real world because of the fact that I get to help real individuals with their tax returns,” Dragoo said. “The other great thing about VITA is being able to do it with the other accounting majors and our professors. This is an experience we get to enjoy together, and when one of us has a question, we’re able to help each other. It really helps bring our department together with the students and teachers, while helping the community out … it does not get much better than that.”

According to Bailey, the accounting department expects student volunteers to commit until the end of February, which is one of the busiest months for completing returns.

“Once March comes, students will have the option to continue the program, but they have the option to call it quits, as well,” Bailey said. “We understand school should be a priority.”

Another student grateful for the VITA tax opportunity is fifth year senior accounting major Hannah Haberman. She said the tax services serve to sharpen her professional skills without jumping into a full-fledged internship.

“I think this program is a great way for Bradley accounting students to connect with the Peoria community and get hands-on experience completing income tax returns without having to devote their time to a tax internship during busy season,” Haberman said. “It really reinforces the concepts that we have learned in class, and it [will be] rewarding to see the impact we can have on the community as VITA volunteers.”

Overall, VITA has been one large group effort, and Bailey said it will likely occur again in Bradley’s future if it continues to be successful.

“I can see Bradley doing this in the future,” Bailey said. “There is too much of a need in the community as long as we have the resources, which is student interest. I previously thought maybe five students would show up, but nearly 30 students have showed up. It’s a reflection of the culture at Bradley; we have lot of students who want to get involved and help out on campus.”

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