Free tax help offered to lower income people

By Scott Glidewell, Staff Writer

Beginning Feb. 4, free income tax preparation will be available from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, in the Main Building across from the Student Life office.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program is available to all families and individuals with a household income of less than $39,000.

Don Wigley, VITA site coordinator, said there would be a total of five volunteers preparing tax returns this year.

“We prepare the returns and then e-file them so they don’t have to do anything,” Wigley said.

Wigley also said all of the VITA volunteers have years of experience with tax preparation.

“I have been involved with VITA, here at OCCC, for the last nine years, and we have one volunteer that has been here for the last 15 years ....”

Because of their experience and training, Wigley believes the tax preparation VITA provides is just as good as any pay service out there.

“Every volunteer has to go through IRS training,” he said. “We all have to be certified by the IRS before we can do anyone’s tax return for them.”

Wigley said it is important that anyone interested in using VITA to prepare their taxes this year should be sure to bring their W-2s, 1099 tax forms, Social Security cards for all members of household on the return, a photo ID card and a copy of last year’s tax return.

Student Life Assistant Marcy Roll said the VITA program has been available to students and local community members for more than 15 years.

She said the earlier in the day students come, the better.

“Because it’s a volunteer service, there won’t always be five people to provide assistance,” she said.

“Sometimes there may only be two or three volunteers at the booths.”

Wigley said February is a very busy month for the VITA volunteers so long lines can be expected.

“Usually, people are antsy to get their refund because they have waited for it all year, he said. If they can wait until March the lines are usually a little shorter.”

Student Life Director Darin Behara said VITA is a great service for the people in the local community and for OCCC students.

Behara said he wants to caution students who might consider using a service that charges money for tax preparation or one that offers an instant refund.

“It’s great to get a refund right away, but it is a service that you have to pay for,” Behara said,

“If there is any way that a student could wait a few weeks for their refund I would advise them to do so, instead of giving up a percentage to receive the money immediately.”

Staff Writer Scott Glide-well can be reached at StaffWriter1@occc.edu.

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