[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Top Image” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/waiting.jpg”]<\/p>\n
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A group of taxpayers wait to be interviewed by USC law students to determine their eligibility for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.<\/p>\n
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In the second phase of their volunteer efforts, USC law students meet one-on-one with taxpayers to assist with the tax forms.<\/p>\n
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Tanya Witten, a Columbia resident getting tax assistance, laughs about how her mom used to be the one who helped her with taxes.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
The University of South Carolina\u00a0Law School is offering tax filing assistance to Columbia residents who are elderly, disabled, non-English speakers or who receive limited income throughout the month of March.<\/p>\n
The program is a branch of the VITA Program, otherwise known as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance.\u00a0The program is sponsored by the IRS and is a pro\u00a0bono opportunity for IRS-certified law students to help people in the community and gain work experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess you can say I just like the challenge of doing taxes,\u201d said Cooper Melvin, a volunteer with the VITA program and law student at USC. This is Melvin\u2019s second year with the VITA program. His first year volunteering was through the University of Alabama\u00a0as an undergraduate.<\/p>\n
The events typically run as such:\u00a0once you arrive, you sign a check-in sheet and wait in the caf\u00e9 to speak with a student. An IRS-certified student will then interview you to determine what kind of tax forms you\u2019ll be filing.<\/p>\n
From your initial interview, you would\u00a0<\/strong>meet one-on-one with another volunteer, who takes care of the majority of the work. They organize and prepare your taxes.<\/p>\n The last step of the process is to\u00a0meet with the event supervisor,\u00a0a tax coordinator who<\/span> checks<\/span> over everything the law student has completed<\/span><\/span>\u00a0before filing the taxes.<\/p>\n Tanya Witlen, a potential VITA program participant, was hopeful and\u00a0excited for her tax assistance. In years prior, she emphasized how her mother\u00a0had always helped her with her tax filing. With Witlen\u2019s first year of post-college employment under her belt,\u00a0she was ready to learn from the students.<\/p>\n \u201cMy friend has volunteered with VITA before, and told me how great it was and how she was able to gain this lifelong skill. So I\u2019m hoping to learn alongside,\u201d said Witlen.<\/p>\n USC has been participating in this IRS-sponsored program for 25 years. When the program was originally implemented, everything had to be done by hand. Today, everything is done on a computer and with a Cloud.\u00a0While the methods of filing taxes may have changed, the help volunteers\u00a0provide is still far-reaching.<\/p>\n Columbia residents can visit the USC Law School, on Senate\u00a0Street,\u00a0Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and Saturday mornings from 9 to 11 a.m. to receive tax assistance. The event is held in the caf\u00e9 on the first floor of the school. In order to receive tax assistance, applicants must have a valid photo ID, a Social Security Card for the filer and all dependents and all\u00a0tax documents.<\/p>\n The IRS has announced that Tax Day will be Tuesday, April 17, this year.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Law students from the University of South Carolina are volunteering their services this tax season. Eligible taxpayers can come to the USC Law School for assistance filing their taxes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":4988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4950"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6452,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950\/revisions\/6452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}