Accounting majors are working with federal program through April 14
Story: Phillip Tutor
For two decades, accounting students at the University of West Alabama have participated in a federal program that assists low-income and disabled workers file their tax returns.
The IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or VITA, is free for eligible taxpayers and doesn’t pay UWA’s students for their work. But the experience the students receive is invaluable, said Sharon Stipe, chair of the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, as is the furthering of university’s outreach in western Alabama and eastern Mississippi.
“That’s what makes it such a great program, because it allows us to give the students that real-world experience, and it is pretty real world,” Stipe said. “I have students who call me when they graduate, and they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s the best thing you could have done for me, because that made me realize that I had to work.’”
Started nationally more than 50 decades ago, VITA is designed for people who make $58,000 a year or less; who have disabilities; or who have limited English-speaking skills. VITA volunteers can help taxpayers file both their federal and state returns.
The VITA program at UWA is open through April 14, with students providing assistance on three days each week: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Taxpayers should schedule an appointment (call 205-652-3846 or email vita@uwa.edu) and bring their tax documents, driver’s license and Social Security card.
“That’s what makes it such a great program, because it allows us to give the students that real-world experience, and it is pretty real world.”
Sharon Stipe
UWA’s VITA students are enrolled in an accounting practicum course in which they are graded on more than the tax returns they file, Stipe said. Because they are working with people in the community, students are graded on how well they communicate with clients, punctuality on workdays, professionalism and their ability to learn and use the required software.
Three students are enrolled in this spring’s accounting practicum, with as many as 300 clients shared equally among them. Historically, not all of the UWA accounting students who assist VITA clients want to become tax preparers after graduation, Stipe said.
“Some of them go to work for the state,” she said. “They go to work for the Department of Public Examiners. Some of them go to work as controllers, and they will become controllers for businesses. We have some with the criminal division of the IRS. We have CPAs. We have people who are in the Department of Revenue. We have people who are in all divisions.
“It’s about preparing them for life, for their career. And that’s sort of what this course is. But it is a way for them to understand that they have a responsibility to give back.”
VITA Program guide.
