February 4th, 2010
 

Accounting students at Montana State University will be providing FREE income tax help through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. These help sessions will be held on the MSU campus in Reid Hall 302, a computer lab. No appointment is necessary. The sessions are from 5:30-7:00 p.m. on the following Tuesday and Thursday nights: February 9, 16, 23; March 2, 4, 9, 23, 30; April 1 and 6.

Taxpayers whose income is $55,000 or less are eligible for the assistance. Those interested in free help should bring their 2009 W-2 forms, other tax documents, social security cards and copies of their 2008 tax returns (if available). International students should also bring their passports and visas. Tax assistance for international scholars begins February 23.

VITA was established by the Internal Revenue Service to assist people who may find it difficult to pay for tax preparation services. The program also provides accounting students an experiential learning opportunity as they work with people in actual income tax situations.

Students will be available to prepare federal and state tax returns and answer tax questions. Free electronic filing will be available for most 1040 forms. They have completed one or more semester-long comprehensive tax courses, received specific training related to common tax issues, have access to a variety of federal and state reference materials and have passed an IRS exam prior to preparing tax returns. The students are supervised by CoB accounting professor, Anne Christensen.