What is VITA?
 The Internal Revenue Service's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, commonly known as VITA, brings federal and state income tax benefits to people with low and moderate incomes by providing free income tax preparation and e-filing.
Many of the key participants in this outreach effort are not experienced tax or business professionals, but students using their basic academic and social skills to improve the economic lives of the VITA clients.
The national VITA program was initiated in 1969 under the IRS mandate to provide free taxpayer assistance to people who could not afford a paid preparer. The VITA program is really several targeted programs. There are distinct VITA programs to assist the general public, military personnel, and older Americans.
St. Bonaventure accounting students participate in a New York state/IRS VITA program geared toward preparing tax returns for low-income workers who are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
The St. Bonaventure VITA program is a high-volume, innovative approach that simulates an accounting firm. The program operates Mondays through Fridays for 8 weeks in a local shopping mall, and takes to the road to visit other parts of the county on Saturdays.
What is EITC?
The Earned Income Tax Credit is a
refundable income tax credit available to low-income workers
with “earned” income — wages or self-employment income.
Given the current emphasis of work over welfare, the EITC has overtaken
other transfer programs in the amount of benefits provided to eligible
claimants from federal and New York state
governments. Approximately 15 percent of individual federal tax returns
have claimed the credit. A significant portion of federal EITC claimants
have been VITA clients.
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VITA Adviser
Dr. Susan B. Anders, professor of accounting.
To view profile, click here.
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VITA Mission
To provide free taxpayer assistance, and free tax return preparation and e-filing, so that low-income taxpayers can receive 100 percent of their tax refunds, without having to pay for assistance.
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Key Core Values
1. Bring economic benefits to the community
- Free tax return preparation and filing
2. Provide students with clinical experience
Technical tax return preparation skills
Problem solving and research skills
Interview and communication skills
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VITA Results
Cattaraugus County, N.Y., with a population of about 80,000, is considered part of Appalachia, a region stretching from southern New York to northern Alabama, which has long been the target of government programs to alleviate poverty. There is no IRS office to assist taxpayers.
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Tax Returns
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Refunds
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Volunteer Hours
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| Tax Season 2012 |
450
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$700,000
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2,000
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| 2004 through 2011 |
2,670
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$4,100,000
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13,000
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| Cumulative Total |
3,120
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$4,800,000
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15,000
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VITA as Service Learning
Service learning projects that are geared toward meeting the needs of the poor are consistent with integration of Franciscan values in the curriculum. Service learning can also fulfill the Franciscan commitment to community, as the students create a community among themselves, as well as reach out to the community outside of the University campus.
Finally, service learning provides opportunities for the application of knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom to help those in need, addressing the Franciscan view of education as a means to make the world a better place.
 Read Our Published Article
Exerpt from "A Student Perspective on the IRS’s VITA Program," The CPA Journal, February 2005:
“Volunteering is one of the best things anyone can be involved in for the local community. We signed up as VITA volunteers to provide low-income members of the community with tax relief and obtain some hands-on experience preparing tax returns. Helping those who are in need is one of the best feelings in the entire world. Looking back, as much as we were able to give to the community, the experiences that we in turn received have proved to be priceless.”
The authors: Patrick E. Doyle, Michael W. Matt and Bradley T. Owens, May 2006 graduates of St. Bonaventure's five-year dual BBA/MBA accounting program.
To read entire article, click here
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