Bemidji State Students Offering Free Tax Help Through IRS VITA Program

Bemidji State’s Accounting department is offering free tax preparation and e-filing assistance now through April 9th. This opportunity is from the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

BSU students who have passed the IRS certification test and the Tax 1 course are offering assistance to taxpayers for the remainder of the month and into next, and everything is for free.

“For a lot of people, taxes [are] like a foreign language to them where, you know, they might they might not understand the difference between a 1040 and four other random numbers,” said BSU Accounting Student and VITA volunteer Bryce Fabian. “The importance of this is very profound. They have a place where they’re able to sit down with people who can explain things to them in a way that makes sense.”

The program is aimed toward taxpayers who earn less than $57,000 a year, are elderly or disabled, or speak limited English. The service is just as much help for the accounting students as it is for the community.

“It’s very important in terms of preparation for post-college life,” explained Fabian. “This is a great opportunity that BSU provides for the students to have a first-hand experience of what taxes are and how preparing them for individuals really is. We’re pretty willing and able to take on any challenge that comes our way. We want to get through 100 returns and help 100 different people out, and I know that we’re well over a quarter done, so we’re right on track.”

VITA assistance is available every Wednesday (except for March 12th during Spring Break) from 4 to 6 p.m. at BSU’s Memorial Hall, Room 250. The last day to stop by for help will be on April 9th.