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“I have a bracelet that says, ‘Tax is fun.’,” says Nicole Lazzeri (MT ’06), Sturm College of Law student and graduate co-coordinator of DU VITA. “I just really love taxes.”

That’s the kind of attitude that volunteers at DU’s Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program bring to the table. Run by the Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) Professional Accounting Society, VITA has served the DU community for three decades. This year, the VITA team is partnering with the Sturm College of Law’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic to bring a wide range of accounting, tax and law experts together to help you file your taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched the VITA program in 1969, providing assistance to taxpayers and training volunteers to keep them up to date on the complexities of tax law.

Providing peace of mind

Whether you’re a student with a single W-2, self-employed with a dozen 1099 forms, or just need an extra set of eyes on your return before you file, VITA can help you put together your return.��

“People can get nervous about submitting to the IRS for a variety of reasons,” says Christine Kuglin, director of the Truth in Accounting program in the Daniels College of Business and adjunct professor in Sturm Law. “It’s good to have a knowledgeable helping hand.”

The free program is available to taxpayers earning less than $67,000 per year. This year’s team of volunteers include those who speak Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Vietnamese and other languages.��

VITA volunteers go through training and earn a certification from the IRS, setting them up with the skills and know-how to figure out a wide range of tax issues, from determining eligibility for the Child Tax Credit and filing as a single taxpayer or head of household to how to pay taxes on a lottery ticket.

Appointments are available every Friday and Saturday from Jan. 24 until March 15. Before you head to campus, make sure you have the necessary documents, including identification, income statements and other related materials.��.

‘We can help, and we can make a difference in people’s lives’��

This year, the team of volunteers includes graduate and undergraduate students from the accounting program and other units across campus, faculty, alumni and community members looking to give back. Several of the volunteers are also part of DU’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, a program that provides legal representation for taxpayers undergoing IRS audits, appeals and tax litigation. VITA’s graduate co-coordinators Thomas Kononov, a graduate accounting student, and law student Nicole Lazzeri are excited by the program’s recent growth.

“Whether you’re interested in going into the field or not, this is an enriching professional development opportunity,” Kononov says. “And we’ve seen record-breaking interest this year.”

And with more volunteers this year, the potential for impact is larger than ever. The team has more than 1,000 slots available to meet with taxpayers and help them file. And for Lazzeri, it’s about more than removing the stress of submitting tax returns. “We can help, and we can make a difference in people’s lives,” she says.

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