As tax season ramps up, New Mexico State University is offering a program that will help underserved individuals in the community get free tax filing assistance from NMSU accounting students.

The free tax filing services are open from 9 a.m. to noon Fridays during tax season in the Business Complex building, room 108. Services will be closed on Mar. 1, 15, and 29.  

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) is an IRS-backed program that recruits volunteers, trains them in tax law and tax software, and prepares them to assist taxpayers with filing their tax returns. It's primarily led by the Coalition for Family Economic Progress in our region, which is headed by GECU Community Development.  

"This semester at NMSU, we created this opportunity where our students get course credit for participating in the VITA program, as an independent study or practicum," said Rebeca Pérez, visiting assistant professor of NMSU's accounting and information systems department. "They receive that same IRS-based training and pass those certification exams to then be qualified to assist with tax filing. They are all accounting students who went through the training and received the qualification."  

The VITA program is meant to assist families who may not be able to pay for tax preparation services.  

"In general, the program is meant to assist households with income of 65,000 or less, veterans, households with individuals with disabilities, non-English speaking households, or elderly individuals," Pérez explained.  

While this program serves as a benefit for taxpayers, NMSU accounting students receive valuable training and real-world tax experience that also fulfills their academic credit requirements.  

"For many of them, this is the first real-life work they do," Pérez said. "Many students continue on to tax careers because of their experience in VITA. Furthermore, by assisting individuals who may not otherwise be able to get this assistance, students experience true community service, all while sharpening their communication skills and their customer service skills."  

The program is free and operates on a first-come, first-served basis. Pérez added that the program cannot guarantee assistance with every tax return and may not be able to assist individuals who employ others in their business or with business expenses greater than 50,000; individuals with rental property; individuals with income earned in a foreign country; or individuals wanting to file with "Married Filing Separately" status.  

Beginning in March, the program will begin filing non-resident returns. Pérez shared that this service is very important for the university community, especially some international graduate students who earn income through a graduate assistantship.  

"They have a tax filing requirement, and that filing requirement is different than for U.S. citizens," she said. "They don't file a 1040, they file a 1040-NR and that's a very much underserved community because there are some people who don't know about the U.S. tax system, so they need help with filing."  

Pérez encourages those interested in receiving these services to visit the program as soon as they receive their tax forms, and to visit during the early hours of the day.  

Taxpayers are encouraged to make sure they have everything they need before coming for assistance. For a list of what that includes, visit https://www.freetaxeselpaso.org/what-to-bring. For more general information about the VITA program, visit https://www.freetaxeselpaso.org /. 

The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-students-offers-free-tax-filing-assistance-to-campus--las-cruces-community/s/db1df8b2-9a4a-4694-81ec-53a8d297181f