Collegio Online

Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Campus Life

Media Credit: Shiho Itooka Josh Klonowok, senior in accounting, helps Josh Dooley, junor in history, prepare his taxes on Tuesday night at the computer lab in Kelce Hall. Free tax preparation is available to all PSU students through the VITA program, which is staffed by volunteers from the PSU Business & Techonology Institute and the Department of Accounting.

For some adults, tax season can be the scariest time of year. But at PSU, students can get free help with their paperwork.

As the April 15 deadline closes in, tax services like H&R Block will gladly help out, but for a fee.

But thanks to a group of volunteers on campus, students can get their taxes done stress-free in fact, completely free. The VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program is offering free tax preparation for PSU students.

"One of my friends told me about this," Jana Umbarger, a senior in commercial graphics, said. "I usually go to H&R Block and pay to get this done."

The volunteers doing the taxes are with the PSU Business and Technology Institute as well as the Department of Accounting. The tax service gives these volunteers practice in what may be their future profession.

"I got plenty of practice this last week," Josh Klonowski, a senior accounting and finance student, said. "We've had a lot of people coming in, more than I can remember last year."

Klonowski says the spike in people taking advantage of the service may be due to advertising.

"We had some advertisements on TV and the newspaper," Klonowski said. "I think a lot more people just found out ahead of time this year."

The experience gained by volunteering for VITA is what most of these students are seeking.

"It's my first night, so I'm a little nervous," Amanda Seeman, a 2007 graduate in account management, said. "It's kind of nice to help people as well as helping myself out."

For five hours a night, these volunteers sit down with students and other taxpayers who qualify to help them through this stressful time.

"This is a win-win experience accounting students get to learn from this, and we get to help people out at the same time," Klonowski said. "You can see that is a load off of people's minds to have this done."

The free tax preparation is available to all students on certain dates.

The dates are as follows: 5 to 9 p.m. on Feb. 26; 1 to 5 p.m. on March 2; 5 to 9 p.m. on March 4, 11, and 25; 5 to 9 p.m. on April 1 and 8; and 1 to 5 p.m. on April 6, 13, and 15. The service can be found in the first floor computer lab of Kelce Hall.

While all students are eligible for the service, it is also available to low- to moderate-income families, those over the age of 60, and to members of the military.
For more information, call 235-4920 or 235-4561.

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