Accounting students offer free tax filing assistance to Pitt community

As Tax Day on April 15 draws nearer, accounting students at Pitt are helping community members navigate the filing process.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, run by the College of Business Administration and partnered with United Way, allows accounting undergraduate and graduate students to assist Pittsburgh residents and students with their taxes. VITA has been in operation at Pitt for the past 23 years.

On Fridays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Pitt students can visit the Carnegie Library on Forbes and the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. According to junior accounting major and VITA volunteer Hadley Collins, people requesting tax assistance should bring their Social Security card, along with the necessary information to file taxes, to get assistance. Those who need help doing their taxes can also call United Way at 211 or schedule an appointment online until April 11.

46 student volunteers are available to help residents file their taxes between the two locations. Students providing tax filing assistance receive around 20 hours of online training and must pass a series of tests from the IRS to obtain IRS certification.

Collins said she joined as a VITA volunteer to gain experience outside the classroom on how to do taxes and provide assistance to the community. 

“We started training by ourselves online throughout December in mid-January,” Collins said. “The end of January is when we started coming [to the Carnegie Library], and then we slowly opened up at like 50% capacity and then to full to integrate doing a weekly routine.”   

Ralph Burchell, an adjunct business instructor and site coordinator for VITA, noted that there is “a lot of student interest” among accounting students in participating in this program and in helping the community. Burchell said VITA helps around 32 taxpayers each week at the Carnegie Library, with the number of students varying throughout the program’s 10-week run.

Leading the program for the first time this year, Burchell said he hopes to expand the programs into other locations in future years.

“We have great student demand in expanding it. We would have to figure out the logistics of getting a location and software, that comes into play, and funding,” Burchell said. “That is not up to me … but it’s been discussed.”

In exchange for their volunteering time, students learn how to efficiently assist with intake, preparing and reviewing tax returns for lower-income individuals and students in the community who need help or cannot afford an accountant.

Kevin Mowrey, a master’s accounting student, said this volunteer program was an elective class option for him. He said getting real-life experience filing taxes and understanding assets is beneficial not only as an accounting major but also to individually manage credit and valuables. 

“It’s a good experience to learn how to do personal taxes,” Mowrey said, “and you can make it into a side business, eventually, if you wanted to do other people’s taxes.”

Zander Laconi, a master’s accounting student, is volunteering for the first time this year and finds that experienced mentors make the learning process easier.  

“We all work together pretty well. It’s [my] first year, but we have other people that have done it last year so we lean on them for help,” Laconi said. “I think we all lean on each other pretty well.” 

In addition to aiding the Pitt community, Burchell said the IRS certification volunteers earn allows accounting students to help others in their lives complete their taxes. Burchell emphasized how important he believes the VITA program is to the Pitt community. 

“These students are giving back to the community, which is a great aspect of this operation,” Burchell said. “They learn something and then they get to apply what they’ve learned immediately, and the training continues on as they’re going through it.”

Collins said she feels volunteering with VITA is a “great community for accounting majors” and other students interested in becoming IRS certified, learning how to do taxes and helping others.

“It’s just a great learning experience, and it really does integrate what you learn in class into real-life experiences,” Collins said. “Overall, it’s just a friendly place, I think any student who needs their taxes done could come here if they need it.”