4Cs Offers Free Tax Preparation

As Benjamin Franklin said, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.”

 

 

Tax time is upon us again, and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) is offering free tax preparation services to students at Cape Cod Community College and members of the community.

 

VITA has provided free tax preparation to its communities for more than 50 years. Its services are intended to help low-income families and individuals who are over 60, disabled, or do not fluently speak and read English file their taxes with ease.

 

According to the IRS website, VITA volunteers have passed tax law training in compliance with IRS standards to enable them to prepare taxes.

 

At 4Cs, VITA is offering appointments to file taxes from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursday through April 15, the deadline for taxes to be submitted to the IRS. Appointments are held in the Lorusso Tech Building (Building 9) on campus.

 

In addition to the VITA volunteers, the tax returns are processed by 4Cs students studying accounting who have taken the necessary training to become IRS certified in tax preparation. The opportunity for the students to prepare taxes allows them to add skills to their resumes for their future careers.

 

Appointments take about two hours. Those with appointments should bring any forms relating to their tax return, along with their driver’s license, Social Security number, and routing and checking account numbers. The previous year’s tax return also is helpful, but not required.

 

Those receiving assistance will be asked to fill out a questionnaire about their taxes at the start of the appointment, and the volunteer or student will take the process from there. At the end of the appointment, people will receive a copy of their tax return with a summary that indicates how much they owe and/or how much their tax refund is. Taxpayers should follow IRS guidelines for standard tax returns and keep tax return records for three years after the filing date or two years after they’ve paid their tax bill, whichever date is later.

 

To set up an appointment with VITA, call 774-330-4923 or email [email protected].

(Jessica Lynch)

Graphic art. (Dolfina Allan)