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Accounting Students to Provide Free Tax Preparation Assistance for 19th Consecutive Year

by Verdiana Quinn Jan 9, 2020
VITA-Program-2020

Junior and senior accounting students will once again provide tax preparation assistance free of charge to senior citizens, people with incomes below $54,000, people with disabilities, students, members of the military, and those who speak English as a second language.

The DeSales University VITA program will begin on Monday, January 20, and run through Friday, March 27. The program is part of the United States Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

This marks the nineteenth consecutive year that DeSales students have participated in the program. Since it was first offered, students have completed more than 4,900 tax returns for more than 2,300 Lehigh Valley taxpayers.

To schedule a VITA appointment, individuals can call 610.282.1100, ext. 1868. A DeSales student will return the phone call and provide assistance accordingly. Individuals needing assistance should bring all printed tax information and all documents pertaining to federal, state, and local taxes with them to their appointment.

The program is sponsored by the IRS and supervised by Dr. Christopher R. Cocozza, division head of the Division of Business and professor of business. Cocozza has served as VITA coordinator at DeSales since the program was initiated in 2001.