Free Tax Help Available or Olivet College Students and Community

Olivet students, tax season is here meaning that now is the time to find someone to file your taxes, or better yet, you can file them yourself.

Professor of Business Administration Jackie Looser is coordinating the Volunteer Income Tax Preparation Program (VITA) to help students and the community file their taxes free of charge, with the help of IRS trained and certified Olivet College students. According to the Olivet college website, the VITA program is coordinated locally by the Capital Area United Way and all students participating are IRS-certified volunteers.

In case you are wondering what you need in order to be prepared, Looser said in an email to bring certain tax documents. For security purposes she also said, “To reduce the risk of identity theft, participation in the program requires you to bring your social security card or tax identification number as well as a valid government photo ID.”

Blog.taxact.com gave a tip on why you should file when you don’t have to. The article titled “10 Tax Benefits for college Students” said that dependents (someone who can be claimed by a taxpayer for certain taxes) who earned more than $6,100, or independent single filers who earned more than $10,150 in 2014 are required to file for taxes, but you might still get a refund if your employer withheld taxes from your check.

If you want to join a VITA session, contact Looser (jlooser@olivetcollege.edu), Professor Poy Lertchaipitak (alertchaipitak@olivetcollege.edu) , or Program Coordinator Emma Schut (eschut@olivetcollege.edu), or call 866-561-2500.

Update as of March 23, 2020: The VITA sessions have been cancelled.