Law School students provide free tax return services

The Liberty University School of Law will offer free tax preparation services to qualifying taxpayers through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program from Feb. 2-14. This is the sixth year that Liberty has offered this service.

VITA is provided for both federal and state returns, and is available to those earning $53,000 or less a year as well as to those with disabilities. Last year, the law school filed over 200 tax returns for people in the Lynchburg area.

Theresa McElroy, chair of VITA, said the program was started by a group of law students and tax professors.

“They thought this program would be an amazing way for students to receive hands-on experience with taxes and also a great way for Liberty to give back to the community,” she said.

Student volunteers are recruited from the law school and the School of Business. Each volunteer is then certified through the Link and Learn program, an online training program offered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Those who qualify for the program meet with a certified tax preparer to fill out forms and answer any questions. The tax returns are then sent to the IRS.

McElroy said that this program is an ongoing partnership between Liberty and the IRS.

“The IRS provides the Link and Learn certification process as well as all of the forms and tax materials that we need to assist people with their taxes free of charge,” she said. “We are also supervised by an IRS Regional VITA director that we can contact anytime with questions or for general help with the program.”

Erik Zetterberg, a third year law student, has volunteered with VITA for two years.

“I volunteer because of the excellent professional experience the program allows me to receive,” he said. “The program also allows me to serve the community, particularly students and staff here at the university.”

Zetterberg plans on entering the field of tax law after graduation and said that volunteering has helped him receive practical experience.

“I think it is highly important that Liberty host this program every year because of the service it provides to our community,” he said. “Last year, many of the people I spoke to while preparing their return said that they come to our program every year and really appreciate the free tax preparation.”

The VITA program is open Monday-Friday from 5-9 p.m. and on Saturdays from noon-5 p.m. at the law school’s Mountain View room.