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For the third consecutive year, students at Lincoln Trail College are gaining real-world experience while making a tangible impact in the community through the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
The VITA program offers free tax preparation services to qualifying individuals, particularly those with low incomes and elderly residents. At Lincoln Trail College, the program is led by Associate Professor of Business Amie Mayhall and supported by students who complete IRS training and certification.
“This program is a benefit to the community and to our students in many ways,” Mayhall said. “We just finished up year three.”
This year marked the program’s most successful to date at LTC. Students and faculty prepared 60 tax returns, the highest number since the program began on campus. The site also completed a successful IRS review with no recommended changes and recorded zero rejected returns.
Through the program, the IRS provides training, certification, software and support, while LTC students and faculty offer the service at no cost to the community.
Students play a key role in the process, working directly with clients to prepare and file returns. Five students earned certification this year and contributed to the program’s success.
Among them was Summer Marks, an accounting student at Olney Central College, who took on a leadership role by managing appointment scheduling and attending weekly office hours. Her work with the program also counted toward her internship requirement.
Other students involved included Nathan Legg, Heidi Coffey, Jessica Wagner and Audrie Mayhall.
For students, the experience provides an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world setting, and often go beyond it.
“For most business students, this program actually steps out and beyond what they are learning in the classroom,” Mayhall said. “Students who are accounting majors take classes in tax accounting and apply what they have learned in the classroom to these real-life clients.”
That hands-on experience also helps students grow both personally and professionally, she said.
“Anytime students can experience authentic hands-on experience, they will benefit,” Mayhall said. “They grow in their understanding of the U.S. tax system, their confidence in preparing and understanding their own taxes, and professionalism with working with the public.”
For accounting majors in particular, the repetition of working through multiple returns builds both skill and confidence, while exposing them to a variety of real-world tax scenarios.
As the program continues to grow, Mayhall said its value remains clear, not only in the service it provides, but in the experience it gives students.
By combining education with community service, the VITA program at Lincoln Trail College continues to make a lasting impact on both students and the people they serve.
