UMaine Accounting Students Offer Help with Tax Returns
Contact: George Manlove at (207) 581-3756
ORONO — With the advance of the April 15 tax-return deadline, accounting students from the University of Maine Business School once again are ready with pencils and calculators, offering free help to people filing basic federal and state tax returns.
The university’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA), sponsored by the IRS, is available Wednesday afternoons through April 14 to anyone on the Orono campus or in surrounding communities who have basic tax assistance needs, says Steven Colburn, the associate professor of accounting who has overseen the program since its inception in 1996.
“The purpose of this program is to help people with basic tax returns,” Colburn says. “This gives students the opportunity to practice what they have learned in tax class.”
About a dozen students work with taxpayers on a first-come, first-served basis from 1-4 p.m. on Wednesdays through April 14 in Room 217 D.P. Corbett Business Building on the Orono campus, next to the Maine Center for the Arts building. Taxpayers should bring their W-2s, 1099 forms or any other forms or information regarding income, deductions or credits. VITA volunteers can download tax forms from the IRS website, if needed, according to Colburn.
The quality of the assistance is very good, Colburn says. All the volunteers have taken tax preparation courses and are up to date on the latest tax law changes. Plus, he adds, “I’m there every day, and I check all the returns before they go out the door.”
The program has helped hundreds of area residents secure thousands of dollars in tax refunds in the last eight years, according to Colburn. It is sponsored by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which provides assistance to the student program. This year, the IRS also provided a laptop computer to assist with electronic filing, Colburn says.
Last year, students helped more than 100 people file returns; he expects at least that many this year.
Colburn says that while the program is aimed at helping prepare basic tax returns for people with disabilities, the elderly, students or low-income people, student volunteers are capable, willing and qualified to help small businesses with straightforward returns, he says.
The free campus program is a bargain, Colburn emphasizes, as most people pay to have their tax returns prepared by a tax professional.
“Studies show that the majority of Americans pay somebody to do their taxes for them,” he says. “It’s not cheap.”
Students, he adds, do not receive credit or compensation for their time.
“It’s fun for them,” he says. “It’s a volunteer activity. They enjoy doing it and helping other people.”
More information is available by calling Colburn at 581-1982 or e-mailing.