College pilots Student-Led VITA Tax Program
Jillian Beaster ‘28
beasterjro@lakeforest.edu
News Editor
Every Sunday from February 9th through April 6th, Lake Forest students operate the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The program is an IRS initiative that helps low-income and military taxpayers, persons with disabilities and international students. Administrators, student volunteers and community members helped assist in this process.
Alex Brown, a junior and Economics major, was introduced to the VITA program through a professor and was interested in getting involved.
“I have also learned more about how to complete taxes, which is beneficial toward my career after college and in general because everybody must complete taxes at some point,” Brown said. “[The program] is important to have on campus because it provides students, faculty, and community members with the opportunity to get their taxes completed by a reliable source at no cost.”
VITA primarily assists underserved communities that have earned less than $67,000 annually with tax preparation and filing income tax returns. Student volunteers underwent training and registration with the IRS VITA program before the event.
“Having filed my own taxes in the past, I was eager to volunteer and contribute,” said Andjela Maksimovic, junior and student volunteer. “I wanted to experience all the responsibilities of making this come together, as of right now I have assisted in the filing of taxes as well as have been a reviewer.”
Giving these opportunities has benefits for both the volunteer and the tax filer, according to senior Paulina Argomaniz.
“[At the College] the program is tailored to meet the needs of both international and domestic students at Lake Forest College,” Argomaniz said. “They are able to access tax assistance at no charge, alleviating financial pressure that could come from hiring a tax professional.”
Preparations for the program required room reservations in the library, marketing the program to students and making the signup process as easy as possible.
“The goal of VITA is to make tax filing more accessible…,” Maksimovic said. “Providing these resources ensures that everyone has the opportunity and support needed to file their taxes properly.”
Brown enjoys helping peers through this process. He echoes the notion of reducing stress in the taxpaying process.
“Getting a tax return done can be an extremely stressful time that no one enjoys, but seeing their faces of gratitude and relief knowing that they were able to get their tax returns completed by a reliable source for free is heartwarming,” Brown said. “This is important to have on campus because it provides students, faculty, and community members with the opportunity to get their taxes completed by a reliable source at no cost.”