Sponsored by the LIU Brooklyn student Accounting Society, the VITA program assists hundreds of residents — including many senior citizens — each year. Accounting Society volunteers, trained and certified by the Internal Revenue Service, provide free basic income tax-return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals.

 

“This program is beneficial to both the students and the community. For the community, VITA offers tax preparation service for those who cannot prepare their own returns or cannot afford to pay to have them done,” said Kerry Louie, president of the Accounting Society. “For students, VITA provides real life accounting experience, develops leadership skills and encourages involvement in the community.”

 

VITA services are available to anyone with an annual income below $51,000. 

 

“For more than 40 years, LIU Brooklyn has helped our neighbors — many of them disabled, elderly or non-English speaking — through the VITA program,” said Myrna L. Fischman, C.P.A., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Accounting, Taxation & Law at LIU Brooklyn’s School of Business, Public Administration and Information Sciences and the adviser to the Accounting Society. “Our services are free and reliable.”

 

Taxpayers should bring valid photo identification and social security cards for themselves and their dependents; records of their income, including W-2s and 1099s; blank check for proof of bank routing and bank account numbers for direct deposit; and, if possible, a copy of last year’s tax returns.

 

Federal returns prepared include 1040EZ, 1040A, 1040 (Schedules A & B), 2441 and 8863. State returns prepared are IT 200 and IT 201.

 

VITA sessions will run every Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1 to April 13 (closed March 15 and 16), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the Pratt Building 1st Floor. LIU Brooklyn is located in downtown Brooklyn, at 1 University Plaza, at Flatbush and DeKalb avenues.