Students Help Taxpayers Save $771,000

St. Bonaventure accounting students volunteered more than 3,000 hours of their time to help local taxpayers earn $771,913 in tax refunds this year.

Sixty-nine volunteer tax preparers, the majority of them St. Bonaventure students, closed shop Friday at their Olean Center Mall location. They prepared 517 tax returns since beginning operation Jan. 27.

The Bonaventure Accounting Association formed the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program in 2004. Since then, VITA has helped low- and moderate-income workers earn more than $4 million in tax refunds, often through federal and state Earned Income Tax Credits.

For every hour the volunteers contribute, whether in training or in hands-on service, $300 in tax refunds is generated for Cattaraugus County, said Dr. Susan Anders, professor of accounting and VITA adviser. It’s estimated that in tax-preparation savings alone VITA puts $825,000 back into the local economy, in addition to the tax refunds generated.

Most colleges only dedicate a couple of weekends to VITA, Anders said, but St. Bonaventure spends 10 weeks, acting as a commercial tax preparation firm. VITA tax preparers must attend training and pass rigorous IRS exams, she said. More than 97 percent of the tax preparers were certified at the advanced level in 2011.

The university joins forces each year with the United Way of Cattaraugus County and the Department of Social Services to make VITA a vital asset to the local economy. Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) at St. Bonaventure assist in the marketing of the tax-preparation program.

The United Way sets up a site at the mall and provides advertising, the Department of Social Services provides resources to the students, and St. Bonaventure provides the manpower and accounting knowledge.

Pictured, helping a local resident with her taxes are Ana Collado (BBA 2010, MBA 2011) and Thomas Meylor (BBA/MBA 2012)
Courtesy of St. Bonaventure University