Creighton University accounting students are volunteering their Saturdays through March 13 to assist qualifying individuals and students with their 2020 income tax returns.

The free clinic is part of the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program and is available to individuals who have an annual income of no more than $57,000. The service is also available to individuals with disabilities and those who speak limited English.

The IRS started VITA more than 50 years ago, and Creighton has held tax preparation clinics for the vast majority of those years, according to Tom Purcell, a Creighton accounting professor who oversees the students.

Purcell sees it as a valuable tool for the community that is particularly in line with the values for which the university stands.

“One of the things we specifically say, in our Jesuit Catholic tradition, is we have a preferential option for those who are least respected by our society,” Purcell said. “And that’s what our client base many times is. We will help people that have maybe two or three part-time jobs that make below the poverty level. We will help single parents with children.”

Purcell said he believes that the program allows students to see a side of our society that they may otherwise not encounter.

“What this helps students do is get the perspective that there is another side to our economy, and this may be the first, and may be the only, time they interact with these people on a personal basis and help them,” Purcell said. “It’s a humbling as well as a growing experience for them, gives them the chance to get in touch with their own human and spiritual needs.”

Students in their third year are required to participate in the VITA program, but many often return to volunteer as a senior or a graduate student, said senior Scott Haveman, who had enough educational credits on his transcript entering Creighton that he first helped people file their taxes as a sophomore and has returned as a volunteer each of the next two years.

“I actually heard about this program when I came and visited as a senior in high school and it’s one of the reasons why I actually chose Creighton,” Haveman said. “Because Creighton’s very service oriented and a lot of times our service can be very meaningful.”

Haveman also likes volunteering for VITA because it’s a practical opportunity to use what he’s learned in class in a real-time situation.

“We can put our skills to use and use what we’re pursuing as a career to better our community,” he said.

Due to the pandemic, this year’s tax clinics are being held virtually via Zoom conferences from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on each Saturday through March 13.

Haveman said the wait time on the first Saturday was 10 to 20 minutes and that it usually takes 45 to 60 minutes to get through the process, from preparing the tax form to having it reviewed to emailing a copy to the client.

To participate in one of tax clinics, individuals are asked to upload their tax documents through Google Drive. Instructions about what to upload and how to log in to the clinics via Zoom can be found at business.creighton.edu/VITA.

No appointments are necessary, and the student volunteers will assist everyone in the order in which they logged on. Individuals are asked to upload their tax documents before logging on to a Zoom session, though the student volunteers are able to assist those who have difficulty uploading the necessary documents.

All the student volunteers are IRS-certified who have undergone tax law training, with an exam that they are required to pass with at least 80%. Training includes maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of all taxpayer information and each tax return goes through a quality review check prior to filing.

Purcell said that VITA can be a useful alternative to filing your taxes by yourself or paying a professional to do it for you.

“Some of these students have spent a semester as a tax intern for a CPA firm, so they get tax, they understand tax,” Purcell said. “We don’t have a need to get paid for what we’re doing. We’re just trying to help the client and they tend to be very appreciative of us, because they recognize that this is for their benefit and it’s a free service.”

For additional information about the Creighton clinics, email creightonvita2021@gmail.com.