UCO’s VITA program offers free tax assistance to the community

With tax day approaching on April 18, the University of Central Oklahoma’s College of Business offers annual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to help alleviate the difficulties of tax season.

The VITA program, sponsored by the IRS, will provide free income tax preparation and e-filing to UCO students, faculty and the surrounding community Feb. 7 – April 8.

Riley Shaull, UCO professor of accounting, along with other UCO accounting faculty, continue to oversee the tax preparation services, checking each return for accuracy.

VITA services will be first-come, first-served, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 – 5:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., in room 107 of the College of Business building located on central’s campus.

“This is an IRS program run for low to moderate income taxpayers to file their taxes for free,” said Shaull. “UCO has a tax practicum class for students enrolled and part of it is to work for the VITA site.”

The VITA program is staffed by accounting students at the university, who have passed at least three qualifying tests to prepare for income tax returns.

“And once the student has quality checked it then a professor such as myself will quality check it a last time before it is printed and then we go over it with the taxpayer.” said Shaull.

Taxpayers wanting to use the program will need to bring a photo ID; Social Security card and date of birth for each person listed on the return; individual taxpayer identification numbers; W-2s, 1099s; a copy of the previous year’s tax return; documentation of deductions; and bank account information for direct deposit. 

International students must bring passports, visas and any 1042-S forms received from 2022 employers, as well as W-2 and 1099 forms and charitable contribution receipts.

For more information on the UCO VITA program, visit http://blogs.uco.edu/vita, or contact
Riley Shaull at rshaull@uco.edu.