An International Meeting of the American Accounting Association 2005 Annual Meeting August 7–10, 2005 San Francisco, California Come to the City by the Bay!

Effective Learning Strategies Forum
Tuesday, August 9, 2005

Session 25
Using VITA to Improve Tax Education

Presenter:
Scott Butterfield, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

Description:
The IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is designed to help the elderly, the handicapped, and other low-to-middle income taxpayers prepare their federal and state income tax returns. VITA can provide a unique opportunity for accounting students to gain valuable experience while providing a key factor generally missing in tax education—the link between classroom instruction and the practical realities of tax practice. While a contrived tax return project can provide some level of preparation, participation in VITA requires that students interview clients, identify issues, use their tax knowledge, evaluate different outcomes, and finally, create a tax return.

Students go through an IRS training program that can be done either live or online. The training can be easily integrated into the existing curriculum of a first course in taxation (basic taxation, or taxation of individuals), although this is not required. Successful completion of the training results in the student becoming a certified volunteer preparer.

This session will provide information on the VITA program, how to start and administer a VITA site, integrating VITA training into the current curriculum, as well as preliminary results on the impact that participation in VITA has on a student’s performance in tax class.

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