Duke students continue free tax service to low-income taxpayers

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) is one of the Law School’s largest pro bono programs. VITA helped 218 Durham residents during the 2006 tax period, filing claims for $236,192 in federal refunds, $20,093 in state refunds and almost $50,000 in earned income credit.

About 30 IRS-trained student volunteers are working at several sites in central Durham, including the Duke Federal Credit Union, El Centro Hispano and E.K. Powe Elementary School. Volunteers are available who speak Spanish and can prepare tax returns in Spanish.

VITA volunteers train eight hours for their certification. Working as their schedules allow, they prepare the returns on site, bring them back to the law school and select members of an executive committee to examine each return. The returns are transmitted electronically, which can mean faster refunds for filers.

“If a return is rejected, we find out why and fix it,” said Kim Burrucker, director of Public Interest and Pro Bono and co-director of VITA. “At the IRS, a tax specialist is available to us at all times.”

This service could be particularly helpful this year, said Christopher McLaughlin, assistant dean of Student Affairs and VITA co-director. “Even if they earned too little to owe any federal income tax, taxpayers should still file federal returns for 2007 to make sure they qualify for the federal government’s new ‘stimulus’ tax rebate program.”

The students benefit from their involvement in the community and the ancillary skills they develop, which are essential to their development as attorneys, McLaughlin said.

“This is a practical way of volunteering -- it’s not a problem that can’t be solved,” said law student Ramie O’Neill, a three-year VITA volunteer. “At the end of the day, I can say, ‘Today, I helped five people save hundreds of dollars.’”

© 2008 Office of News & Communications