Voices

Iowa students prepare taxes for grade

Iowa State University students are currently providing tax help as part of both the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program and a business course.

"The important change we made three years ago was starting to do this as a four-credit course," William Dilla, associate professor of accounting, told the Iowa State Daily. "The idea came from some of our students who are in the Beta Alpha Psi [business fraternity] who had gone to a regional conference and found that other schools were doing it as a service-learning for credit."

Thirty students are enrolled in the IRS-sponsored class this year and will be preparing tax returns through April 14. While open to any business major, Dilla estimates this year’s students are all accounting majors.

People with a household income of less than $58,000 are eligible for tax assistance through the VITA program.

"Three years ago we did about 150 tax returns over the season, two years ago we did about 250, and last year we did about 500,” Dilla continued. “I would think, though, we probably won't do many more than 500 this year since there is only so much we can do."

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