Last week, 14 CSB/SJU students began volunteering for the federally designated Tri-County Action Program (Tri-CAP) at St. Cloud Technical College. The students complete free tax returns for low-income individuals and families in the St. Cloud area through Tri-CAP’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA).
“This year is particularly exciting due to the large number of CSB/SJU volunteers,” Accounting and Finance Department Chair, Mary Jepperson said. “The program coordinators actually had to turn volunteers away since (the coordinators) were able to attract a sufficient number of wonderful volunteers to assist with this fantastic program.”
This year Tri-CAP has a total of 75 volunteers, offering four tax return sessions each. Volunteers for this program each completed nearly 15 hours of training in preparation for their service, and had to pass a test as required by the IRS in order to be certified, prior to volunteering.
“The training included Minnesota Tax and Federal tax,” junior Sarah Carlson said. “They made sure to shape the information around what we needed to know for low income tax payers.”
Participating in this volunteer program, CSB/SJU students receive valuable, real-life experience in tax form completion and the gratification of helping those who may have otherwise been unable to afford this service.
“I get the benefit of being able to help those in need by saving them a few hundred dollars by filing their tax work,” SJU Sophomore Kevin Jirik said. “Along with that, I am gaining communication and tax skills by volunteering. It is a great experience, and the taxpayers have been very appreciative which has felt great.”
Although the qualifications to be eligible for this service are individuals who earn $30,000 or less a year and families who earn $50,000 or less a year, Tri-CAP Tax Site Manager and SJU Alum David Schlough says the people they serve have an average income of about $13,000 a year, which is much lower than the requirement.
“We try to serve as many low income people as we possibly can, doing our best to get the word out so they don’t have to pay for a simple tax return,” Schlough said.
Tri-CAP is committed to serving those in the community who are in need and helping them generate tax returns that, for some, become the money necessary to sustain basic living expenses.
“Without this program, these people would have no one to turn to,” Jepperson said. “The refund, for some of these people, may be the extra cash that keeps them in a home/apartment versus homeless.”
Last year, volunteers in this Tri-CAP program processed over 1,600 tax returns and generated almost $3 million in refunds.
“Most of these refunds are used to pay rent, buy groceries, or pay other bills; most of it is spent right here in the community,” Schlough said.
Tri-CAP is a local sponsor of the free tax return program initially started in 1971 by the non-profit organization AccountAbility MN, in partnership with the IRS. Both organizations share the belief that an individual’s access to quality tax assistance and financial refunds should not depend exclusively on one’s ability to pay for those services.
“Tri-CAP has had a long commitment to serving the poor and needy,” Schlough said. “This is just one way we can do that.”
This free tax return program has been serving low-income families and individuals in Benton, Sherburne and Stearns Counties for seven years.
“Since Tri-CAP is a non-government organization, we raise funds for the operation through government funds and private grants from businesses and banks,” Schlough said. “We depend a lot on student volunteers all over the area.”
Many student volunteers are accounting majors or minors who are interested in future careers in the tax field.
“I decided to participate because there are scarce experiences such as this which include volunteering for a cause and Accounting-related information,” CSB sophomore Kalle Byers said. “It also allowed me to learn a new set of (tax related) skills I did not know prior.”
Along with the rare opportunity of real-life financial application volunteering with this program provides, there is another advantage CSB/SJU students should take into consideration.
“Recruiters look for students who can balance multiple responsibilities,” Jepperson said. “A strong track record of volunteer work helps demonstrate that ability.”
Many financial companies recognize the Tri-CAP volunteer program on resumes of internship and job applicants. For CSB junior Mackinzie Wilson, the ability to help the community and the opportunity to practice tax filing skills are incentives enough to volunteer.
“The most rewarding part for me is seeing the customer’s reaction when they receive a refund that is larger than what they expected,” Wilson said. “The happiness and gratitude they have is almost overwhelming because it is hard to understand how much these refunds mean to them.”
The VITA volunteer program in which CSB/SJU students are participating will last until federal and state income taxes are due on April 15. However, the actual Tri-CAP program continues year-round, since different taxes are due at different times.
“I think no matter what your concentration in accounting, it is a valuable skill to learn and a life-long habit that you should start early,” Byers said. “Yes, the free returns benefit the recipients, but I think we benefit at least as much, if not more, from learning how to help others in a unique way.”