Does the looming April 15 tax deadline send shivers down your spine? Volunteers from the University of Oregon may be able to help.
For more than a decade, the UO has helped students and Eugene-area residents complete their taxes. Volunteers from the Lundquist College of Business’s Beta Alpha Psi accounting fraternity and students from the law school provide free preparation of simple federal and state tax returns through the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
“The VITA services are great for the participants in the community because it gives people the opportunity to get their taxes done for free, with quality and close to home,” said Lidia Wells, vice president for external communications of Beta Alpha Psi. “I am very glad that UO provides this service.”
The service will be available in Room 155 of the Lillis Business Complex on the corner of 13th and Kincaid Streets on Saturday, April 5, and Sunday, April 13, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Participants are asked to bring their social security cards, photo I.D. and their tax documents, including W-2s and 1099s, and they will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis.
“While the benefit our service offers to clients is easily apparent, what I love most is the benefit that it also offers our volunteers,” said Daniel Lee, president of Beta Alpha Psi. “They have the ability to work one-on-one with clients in a professional setting, while working with complicated tax software. These are valuable real world skills that aren't developed in the classroom.”
Because VITA is a basic volunteer site, only simple tax returns can be filed. The service is not for people with capital gains or losses, out-of-state income or other complex items. For more information about the service, please email Wells at uovita.lidia@gmail.com.
- by Melissa Foley, Office of Public Affairs Communications