Calloway School students provide free tax assistance to Forsyth county residents

The students are volunteering with the IRS-sponsored VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance), a nationwide program that employs trained volunteers to help lower-to-moderate income, elderly, or non-English speaking taxpayers file their tax returns. Accounting students at colleges and universities across the country are participating in the program.

Wake Forest students will sponsor an assistance site at the Goodwill Industries building on University Parkway from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through February and March, beginning Feb. 4. They will assist local residents who can file using basic 1040 forms, paying careful attention to targeting those eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, an often-overlooked tax refund available to working families with incomes of around $32,000 or less.

Yvonne Hinson, associate professor of accountancy at the Calloway School and
faculty sponsor of the group, says volunteering with the program gives her students the opportunity to see how what they learn in the classroom can make a substantial impact on the lives of taxpayers.

“There is significant money in tax refunds that people don’t even realize they are eligible for,” says Hinson, the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Faculty Fellow at the Calloway School. “We want to use our knowledge as accounting professors and students to help bring this money back into Forsyth County.”

One student who volunteered with Hinson and the VITA program as an undergraduate two years ago is back to do it again, this time as a graduate student in the Calloway School’s master’s of accountancy program. Kim Morgan says she was amazed at how appreciative people were for the help they received through the program.

“It is everyone’s duty to limit their own tax liability, or pay only what they really owe, but the people that truly need to save the most on their tax bill are those who often can’t afford the help to do so,” says Morgan. “This program helps those who will benefit the most.”

The Calloway School volunteers are working with the Forsyth Working Families Partnership, a coalition between the Forsyth County Department of Social Services, the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and other local non-profit organizations, to publicize the program. The group held a kickoff event in November to enlist the support of local employers and non-profit agencies in communicating to their employees and clients information about the Earned Income Tax Credit and the free tax assistance available throughout the county. There will be several VITA sites in Forsyth County.

This is the second time that Calloway students have assisted with the VITA program. In 2001, students set up shop at the bus station in downtown Winston-Salem to help residents complete their tax forms.

The Wake Forest tax assistance site will be open from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 4, March 18 and March 25. For more information, contact the VITA office at 336-378-2197.

Editor’s Note:
Accounting students at the Calloway School have ranked first or second in the nation for performance on the CPA exam for the past five years. The Calloway School is ranked 25th among all undergraduate business schools by U.S. News and World Report.

For more information about Wake Forest’s participation in VITA, reporters may call the News Service. For more information about VITA, reporters may call Mary Williams at 336-378-2197.