Spiders are ready for tax season
Student Experience
Recent on-campus training sessions prepared more than 80 students to serve as IRS-certified volunteers providing tax help to the local community.
Over the past two weeks, about 80 Richmond students received training in tax preparation — including learning about tax laws, filing returns, and using tax software — so they could volunteer to support seniors and other Richmond community members through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. The program is available at no charge to individuals and families with incomes of $69,000 or less.
Upon completion of the program, students are certified as tax preparers by the IRS. Students who are repeat participants are trained as quality reviewers who check the work of every return before it is filed on-site.
Jordyn Farizo, an accounting instructor, led the classes, while junior Jolie Martin and senior Zheke Qian, both accounting majors, taught some client-facing portions. In their third year as volunteers, Martin and Qian are co-site coordinators of the University's VITA site, which the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement and Robins School of Business operate at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Richmond.
The United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg sponsors the IRS VITA program in the region.
Practice for the unexpected
The class spends two days learning about taxes, but focuses a significant amount of time on applying that knowledge to real-life scenarios. The students take turns role-playing, being a tax preparer and a client. Even though they practice simulated situations, there are surprises.
“Probably the most memorable experience was when I helped a deaf client,” Martin said. Martin managed the situation by reading lips and writing explanations down on a notepad. “Through the long process, the client left extremely happy and with a refund in their pocket,” she said.
Last year, a client needed to file returns dating back to 2019.
“He came in every Saturday, and I was on that shift every week,” said sophomore finance major Basha Harrington, now in her second year with VITA. “By the end, we were able to successfully file all his returns for the past five years, which is obviously a huge benefit to him and helps curb any issues he'd have later down the road with the IRS.”
Repeat clients
“Many community members return to the site year after year,” said Sasha Hollister, the assistant director of community relationships and place-based engagement for CCE. She and accounting adjunct faculty Michael Yager serve as St. Paul VITA site coordinators.
“The feedback I receive has been quite positive from our community members who come to our tax site. Some go out of their way to share how professional and helpful the student volunteers are,” said Hollister.
This year, appointments at the UR VITA site run from Feb. 4 to Apr. 15. Students also work at other sites, such as the Sacred Heart Center, where they provide Spanish translation services when needed.