Milligan students have been helping local taxpayers prepare their taxes for the IRS through the Voluntary Income Tax Assistance course offered each spring semester. Students taking the VITA course just finished their first preparation day of this spring semester on Feb. 15 in Derthick Hall.
Students in the VITA program are supervised and taught by four faculty members; two site coordinators and two quality reviewers.
From the beginning of the spring semester, any student wanting to volunteer to prepare taxes could enroll in the course. Currently, VITA requires students to attend three training sessions on Monday evenings.
Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Heather Vaccaro, has been the main site coordinator for Milligan’s VITA program the past four years, and has been involved with the program for 12 years.
“I love seeing people come back year after year and give praise to our students for the work that they do,” said Vaccaro.
Vaccaro, who is currently working on her doctorate degree in business administration, was the first student to prepare returns when the VITA program started in 2009. Now, as the main site coordinator for VITA, Vaccaro runs the show from start to finish.
“This is a service that we can provide free of charge to those who need it,” said Vaccaro. “I like that it’s a way for our students to engage with the community in a way they don’t normally get to do in this capacity.”
Student diversity is strong in the VITA program at Milligan. Student-athletes, international students and adult students come together to help the community. If some clients only speak Spanish, there are a few bilingual students able to translate and thus prepare their returns.
Vaccaro believes the VITA program fits well with the Milligan atmosphere of servant-leadership, and she thinks this program will remain a priority for years to come.
“My hope is that students gain a practical skill that they can take with them afterwards in terms of knowing how to do their own taxes,” she said.
Matt Silva, senior exercise science major and psychology minor, explained how he views VITA not only as a way to help people, but as a way to invest in himself.
“I can’t ignore that being in VITA will help me navigate my own future finances and taxes,” he said.
Silva is currently serving for his fourth year in VITA. He was a greeter for the first two years and would welcome incoming clients, scan their IDs, gather their paperwork and walk them through the tax preparation process.
After observing how clients were helped by students, Silva decided he wanted to be more engaged. His junior year he enrolled in two credit hours and this year he is enrolled in three credit hours. Each credit hour represents the amount of days a student will prepare taxes for.
For Silva, his favorite part of the program is interacting with the people he prepares taxes for. “I really like this program because you get to talk to the clients about life and sometimes you really connect with people and it feels so rewarding because in the end it’s more than just doing their taxes.”
Silva has become more comfortable and confident with tax preparation throughout his years volunteering in VITA. He explained that some students may be a little intimidated at first because they are completing difficult work for people they do not know.
However, he stated that they are “trained by professionals to know how to speak to clients and correctly prepare their taxes or returns. At the end, it’s okay because our work will be looked over by a professor with years and years of experience.”
In training, the students are walked through what forms they need to know and be familiar with, what to do with those forms and how each form may or may not influence a person’s taxes.
Any current student, regardless of year, age, major or minor is allowed to sign up for volunteering. As site coordinator, Vaccaro teaches the students terminology associated with taxes and walks them through tax returns they will likely see when they are actually preparing them for clients. Vaccaro also ensures that each enrolled student and faculty member receives their official certificate at the advanced level through the IRS.
This certificate serves as an official statement that each student and faculty member accomplished the IRS training courses, has completed the required tests and practice returns, and are fully capable of preparing another person’s taxes.
Through VITA, Vaccaro desires for students to see the value and importance of servant-leadership. As the students engage and communicate with clients, “[the students] present themselves with Christ-like behavior,” said Vaccaro. She sees VITA as a way for students to grow as interpersonal beings.
There are two more dates students will participate in VITA: March 21 and April 4. People can go to milligan.edu/vita to sign up for a time best suited to their schedule. The process, depending on complexity, may take up to an hour. The VITA program will be continuing next spring and Vaccaro encourages any student to join.
Headline photo: Matt Silva and Brian Sciba eagerly help a client prepare their taxes.