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Business students are helping with tax returns
Students in the Lewis-Clark State College Business Division are offering to help members of the Lewiston-Clarkston area with their 2007 tax returns for free.
With support from LCSC Business Division Chair Randy Martin and the Internal Revenue Service, the students are participating in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. They are trained in using material from the Internal Revenue Service, including IRS software to complete tax forms.
The students went through LCSC assistant professor Randy Eriksen’s two tax courses prior to this semester. The students then took part in an IRS clinic and passed an IRS-sponsored exam.
The students will offer tax help on Tuesdays, from 6-9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m.-noon in Room 12 in the basement of the LCSC Administration Building. The tax help is open to all. The students are trained to help with nearly all forms and schedules.
Persons seeking help will need to bring copies of their W-2, 1098 and 1099 forms, along with their tax ID number. No appointments are necessary.
Because the work is done on the computer and the tax forms are filed through the IRS e-file program, Eriksen says most people, if they qualify, will receive their refunds within 5-10 business days.
Eriksen says the tax help is a benefit to both the students and the community. He says the students learn valuable professional customer service skills by dealing with clients, it gives them experience preparing tax returns, it provides them with the opportunity to apply the knowledge learned in the classroom to these returns, and they are volunteering their time to help others in the community.
For more information on the program, contact Eriksen at rweriksen@lcsc.edu
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