Do something practical. That’s what Vincent would say. Every year in the USA, people struggle to manage the scarce resources they have, while still being good citizens. Saying #IamVincent means helping people do the good things they want and need to do. It’s a practical enterprise.
At Niagara University, they’re at it again! Concrete. Well-described…. Practical!
It’s that time of year again.
For the 36th straight year, accounting students from Niagara University’s College of Business Administration are providing free tax preparation assistance to members of the Niagara Falls community this tax season.
In 2016, 86 student volunteers helped local residents file 891 tax returns, totaling more than $1.1 million in federal and state refunds.
Assistance will be provided from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Niagara University (St. Vincent’s Hall, Room 312) on the following dates:
- Feb. 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 25 and 28
- March 2, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 28 and 30
- April 4 and 6
In addition, sessions will also be held at the Doris W. Jones Family Resource Building (3001 9th St., Niagara Falls, N.Y.) from 12 to 4 p.m. on the following Saturdays:
- Feb. 25
- March 18
Appointments are accepted but not necessary to participate in this free service. Participants are asked to bring photo identification and their social security card.
Niagara’s program is coordinated by Dr. Ian Burt, a certified public accountant and accounting faculty member at the university.
Sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service, the program, called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), is in its 36th year at Niagara. Under the program, NU students prepare and electronically file federal and state tax returns free of charge for elderly and low-income taxpayers in the community. The program is coordinated by members of Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor society for accounting, and the college’s Accounting Society.
Niagara University’s VITA program has garnered national accolades from Beta Alpha Psi, an organization with more than 300,000 members in 300 chapters on college and university campuses around the world.
Source: Niagara U News
This is something that can be done on a smaller scale at the parish level if there is a CPA available. We have had annual Tax Day at our SVDP conference thanks to an awesome parishioner who volunteered to do it. She sets up her computer in the parish center. She can only handle maybe 30 people, not 891, but still…