(Seguin) — TLU students are again making sure tax filers don’t have to go at it alone. Texas Lutheran University has announced the start of its annual community tax clinic available two days each week.
Ashlie Ford, TLU’s director of marketing and communications, says the program is completely run by students in the Master of Accountancy program.
“The IRS’s VITA program which is the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Clinic has operated for more than 50 years and it offers free basic tax return preparation to qualified individuals including people who generally make $57,000 or less, persons with disabilities and limited English-speaking taxpayers. We see a lot of elderly people in our community utilize this service and it really is a win-win because our students love being a part of this and many of our students have been doing it for several years now. They recognize some of the taxpayers that are returning to receive assistance and we love being able to offer this to the community,” said Ford.
Due to COVID, Ford says the students were no longer able to sit down with tax filers. Instead, the campus turned the program into a drive-thru system in the Beck Center parking lot to assist as many community members as possible. Ford says that format turned out be a success and will again be used this year.
“After speaking with Professor Sally Cook who oversees the VITA Tax Clinic, we realized that there are so many students who volunteer for this program as a class that it’s making more sense to have it in the Beck Center parking lot because we get so many people from the community, we have a full class for students and faculty there so this allows everybody to have more room and kind of come on a first come, first serve basis,” said Ford.
Ford says the program continues to grow in popularity and will continue to be provided on a first-come, first serve basis.
“The drive-thru clinics will be offered through April 15, 2023. They will occur on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. and again on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Beck Center parking lot. Assistance is going to be provided on a first come, first-serve basis and there are no appointments, and we also would like people to know that there will be no clinics March 11-19 since the campus will be closed for Spring Break. We also want to remind taxpayers that they need to bring all tax forms, a photo ID, and Social Security cards for everyone on the return including dependents,” said Ford.
All VITA volunteers who prepare returns must take and pass tax law training that meets or exceeds IRS standards.
The VITA services are free. The TLU Beck Center is located off Prexy Drive.