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⇒ Student & Scholar Advising ⇒ Living in the U.S. ⇒ VITA News and Information

VITA News and Information

The 2008 VITA tax assistance program concluded on April 28, 2008.  VITA tax assistance for students filing in 2009 will resume in March 2009.

 

VITA Coordinator’s Office Hours:

The VITA Coordinator holds office hours at the International Center

Tuesday: 2–4:00pm (Wan-Yi)

Friday: 2–4:00pm (Jimmy)

You may contact the VITA Coordinator by emailing ictaxes@indiana.edu

Volunteers needed for Volunteer Income Tax Advisory (VITA)

VITA is a national program designed to assist foreign students in the completion of their federal and state tax returns.   Indiana University participates in the program through the Office of International Services (OIS).  We are currently looking for volunteers who can help IU international students and scholars to complete their tax returns.

IU students are assisted during 2 hour tax help sessions beginning on March 1st and ending on April 12th.  Tax help sessions are scheduled on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons.  Students will complete their federal taxes through a software program provided by the university.  Besides the federal taxes, students will also complete their state tax return by hand.  Volunteers assist the students through the software and answer students’ general tax questions.

There will be three mandatory trainings for all the VITA volunteers:

• Federal Tax training session: Saturday, February 9th, from 9:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m. (lunch will be provided) at the School of Education, Room 1120.
• Tax software training (CINTAX): Saturday, February 9th, from 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. at the School of Education, Room 2015.
• Indiana State Tax training session: Saturday, February 16th, from 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. at the School of Business, Room 109.

Attendance will be taken for all training sessions as well as each tax help session.  Volunteers are required to attend a minimum of 8 tax help sessions.  An open book test will be distributed at the Federal training session.  In the past, the passing rate for this test has been 90% and most volunteers finish it in less than 2 hours.– The deadline to submit this test is February 17, and a VITA certificate will be issued to those who pass the test successfully.

Besides helping their fellow students, volunteers will receive invaluable tax training and experience, as well as the VITA certificate issued by the IRS office.  VITA is nationally recognized among accounting firms and other business organizations.   Participation in this program represents a major asset for students’ career search.

Any questions can be directed to the VITA Coordinator, Jimmy Lee, or the Assistant Coordinator, Wan-Yi Chang, at ictaxes@indiana.edu.

Last updated June 27, 2008.