OSU students offer free tax return service on campus for low- to moderate-income individuals and families

Feb. 28—Spring is almost here, but tax season has already arrived — along with all the headaches of preparing tax returns.

Never fear. Students at Oklahoma State University stand by, ready to prepare income tax returns for low- to moderate-income individuals and families — all free of charge.

The OSU School of Accounting partnered with the Internal Revenue Service through a program called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance to provide certified volunteers who are preparing income tax returns for individuals and families with an income level at $60,000 or below.

The free service is available from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Monday and Tuesday until April 18 in Room 060 in the Business Building on campus.

"We're in the basement of the U-shaped building on campus and parking is behind the building," said Julie Ward, OSU Instructor of Professional Practice. "After 5 p.m., parking is free unless there is a game."

Ward coordinated the VITA program with 10 undergraduate and graduate students assisting — some adding class credit and some simply wanting the extra experience.

"We like the students to be involved in areas of service, and this is one of those ways they can get involved with the community," Ward said. "It's a way of giving back, because they're able to use the things that they've been learning and get real-world experiences."

Taxpayers will need to bring a photo ID, verification of Social Security, any tax documents (like W-9s and 1099 forms) and income-related expenses. If a taxpayer does not have their Social Security information, they can get a printout of that information online.

Taxpayers will be asked to fill out a questionnaire when they arrive. The questions are from the IRS, mostly "yes" and "no" questions.

"We can help with that (questionnaire) if they have questions," Ward said.

With the VITA program, the taxpayer will work with the volunteer preparer to enter their information and the preparer may ask questions for clarification.

Then the taxpayer will work with a certified reviewer.

"Each return is quality reviewed by someone (who) did not prepare it," Ward said.

At least two people on the team will work with each taxpayer.

"Sometimes young families who don't have a lot of money are taken advantage of, and they're not told that their tax returns could be done for a lot less," Ward said. "We can help them get the credits that they qualify for to help them maximize their tax refund."

All of the preparers and reviewers are certified and the team can prepare both basic and advanced tax returns.

"Each (student) that works with a tax return has taken a test from the IRS," Ward said. "They have to pass (the test) with an 80 percent or higher to be able to do the tax return. Then it's reviewed by someone who has that same certification level."

Ward noted that the team can prepare a tax return as long as it is not a separate business return. If clients have a partnership or a form that's been completed by another preparer — such as a Schedule K-1 — they can bring that with them as long as they are within the $60,000 income limit.

Also, the team cannot prepare forms for home office expenses (Form 8829) because the IRS does not allow volunteers to prepare that particular form. Taxpayers would need a paid preparer for that form.

Forms the VITA program volunteers can prepare:

* Form 1040EZ

* Form 1040A (with SCH 1, 2, 3 & EIC)

* Form 1040 (with SCH A, B, C-EZ, D, EIC, R & SE

* Form 1040-V

* Form 1040-ES

* Form 2441

* Form 8812

* Form 8863

Ward explained that taxpayers must sign their own forms at the time of filing. Preparers and reviewers will not sign off on the returns since they are protected by the IRS as volunteers.

If taxpayers file jointly, both spouses would need to sign off on the tax return.

An identifying VITA site number will be provided on all tax returns.

"If taxpayers would like assistance in having their tax return prepared in a way that limit that would decrease the likelihood of an audit, (they should come)," Ward said. "We're not saying that it wouldn't be audited, but it's less likely to end up in what the IRS calls 'paper purgatory,' which is just a backlog of returns that have errors."

Ward encouraged taxpayers not to wait to take advantage of the free service. The program will be closed for spring break, but will be open every other week until April 18.

If certified volunteers would like to offer their services with the program, the team will take them.

"Some of the people that volunteer in the VITA program (through the IRS) are social workers," Ward said. "They have no accounting background whatsoever. It's open for anyone to volunteer as long as they go through the certification that the IRS has provided."

The VITA grant program is "an IRS initiative designed to support free tax preparation service for the underserved through various partner organizations. This service helps low- to moderate-income individuals, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and limited English speakers file their taxes each year," according to the IRS website.

For more information about the VITA program, visit www.irs.gov/VITA or download this pdf.

For additional information at OSU, contact Julie Ward at 405-744-5381 or julie.ward@okstate.edu.