Over 85 students received VITA training in January.
Over 50 Olin students from the SMP, MBA and BSBA programs and 30 students from the law school participated in training this past Saturday in Simon Hall for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. VITA is sponsored by the Gateway EITC Community Coalition (GECC) and provides free tax preparation for people regionally with less than $51,000 annual income.
Shiyu (Bridget) Han and Bryan O’Neal, Washington University Accounting Association (WUAA) student leaders (pictured above), have spearheaded reestablishing this free community service program at Olin this year. Students can participate on either a volunteer or for-credit basis.
There are about 30 locations spread across the St. Louis metro area, in both Illinois and Missouri. During the 2011 filing season the GECC prepared 6,875 free tax returns, saving clients an estimated $1.7 million dollars in preparer fees alone. This also resulted in almost $9 million in federal and state refunds entering our community’s economy. You can learn more at http://gatewayeitc.org/
