Help your community while enhancing your accounting skills
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program
If you are a junior, senior, or graduate accounting student at Gies, you can become a tax preparer or tax reviewer with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. It’s a great way to make a difference in the community and gain real-world tax experience that employers are looking for.
Join our team! Register for ACCY 449: Tax in Action for the spring semester.
How to get involved in the VITA program
Interested in participating? It’s easy to get involved. Just register for ACCY 449: Tax in Action for the spring semester. Tax preparers receive 1 credit hour, and reviewers will receive 2 credit hours. In addition to learning from experienced Gies faculty, this course enables you to:
- make a difference in the lives of taxpayers by helping them access tax refunds due to them without paying for expensive tax preparation services
- improve your communication skills
- develop your critical thinking and technical skills
- engage with the local community
- work with a large team of Gies faculty, expanding your network rapidly.
What will I do as a VITA participant?
As a VITA participant, you will work with a team of fellow students to prepare tax returns. You will work directly with taxpayers in this rewarding experience. A group of Gies faculty will mentor you through the process as you develop your skills.
This is an experiential learning course. There is an initial certification process but once completed, there are no exams or projects. You will learn by doing real tax returns for real taxpayers.
What is the time commitment?
At the beginning of the semester, all students will participate in an asynchronous training program and must pass several certification exams administered by the IRS. When training is completed, the remainder of the semester will consist of preparing tax returns. Specific responsibilities are as follows:
- Preparers – prepare assigned tax returns each week, meet with faculty or the assigned reviewer when questions arise, meet with the assigned reviewer each week to debrief
- Reviewers – lead a team of preparers to complete tax returns by the prescribed deadline, meet with assigned preparers as needed when questions arise during the preparation process, meet with assigned preparers each week to debrief, meet with faculty each week to obtain final approval of the team’s tax returns
- All students – work with taxpayers in person to obtain information needed to prepare the tax return and to review finished tax returns with the taxpayer
Total time commitment varies from week to week just as with any class, but on average, preparers should anticipate 3-5 hours per week, and reviewers should anticipate 4-6 hours per week. Some weeks may be more and some weeks may be less.
When does this class meet?
- Reviewers in Section B (see Vita Timeline section below) will have class once per week (see course catalog) to discuss challenges, emerging issues, and training points.
- Reviewers will also meet with a faculty member once per week (by appointment) for final approval of that week's tax returns. A variety of days and times are offered, as are virtual and in person offerings.
- Teams (one reviewer and 1-2 preparers) meet weekly to debrief at a time that is convenient to all team members.
- All participants complete a prescribed number (typically 5-7 and one orientation) of 3-hour shifts working directly with taxpayers at our partner organization's facility (easy bus access) during the semester. These are self-scheduled at the beginning of the semester. There are weekday as well as evening and weekend options.
- Information and help sessions will be available throughout the early part of the semester. These will be recommended but not required and will be recorded and posted when possible. Students will be responsible for the material covered.
- All preparation and review of tax returns is done asynchronously.
What are the different steps that students go through during the semester?
- Late fall: Students register for ACCY 449
Preparers - Section A
Reviewers - Section B - Early-mid January: Canvas site is published and students can begin working on certifications
- 1st week of spring term: Kick-off meeting - look for Canvas announcement
- Mid-January to February 1: Students obtain certifications and complete onboarding via Canvas modules
- February 1 to mid-April: Students prepare/review tax returns, meet with faculty and team members, complete on-site shifts, reviewers attend weekly class
- Mid-April: Class ends and we celebrate with a pizza party!
VITA certification process
The IRS requires VITA participants to obtain some certifications prior to participation. Students in ACCY 449 will complete these certifications as part of asynchronous modules posted to Canvas. Because of the timing of the start of the spring semester and the start of the filing season, these modules must be completed fairly quickly after the start of the spring semester.
For those who may like to get started on this certification process over winter break, see the IRS Link and Learn Taxes site where you can create an account, find many training resources, and begin the certification process.
The amount of information on this IRS site can be overwhelming. You need not read through every piece of information.
An additional source of training materials can be found on the Prosperity Now website. These training resources are sometimes easier for students to digest. Module 1 will prepare you for the Intake/Quality Review certification test and the remaining modules pertain to the Advanced certification test.
Some helpful tips about the IRS certification site:
Required certifications
- Volunteer Standards of Conduct, outlining the ethical standards VITA participants must adhere to.
- Intake/Quality Review, outlining the process of obtaining information from the taxpayer to prepare the return and reviewing the finished tax return with the taxpayer. This will provide you vital training for your on-site shifts
- Advanced, outlining the technical tax knowledge you will need as a VITA participant. This is the most difficult certification and will take some time to complete.
Training materials
There is training provided for all certifications. Engage only with the training materials you need to successfully complete the certification process. For example, if you feel confident about your ability to determine a taxpayer's filing status from your introductory tax class, there is no need to read through that section of training materials.
Help sessions
Help sessions will be available in the first few weeks of the spring semester.
Questions?
Contact a VITA Coordinator at vita@business.illinois.edu.