BELL COUNTY, Texas — Thanks to United Way of Central Texas, the complication of filing taxes is at ease for some Bell County Taxpayers.
”We are in the middle of tax season and United Way offers free tax preparation for households making $60,000 thousand dollars or less,” said Veshell Greene, VP of Resource Development, United Way of Central Texas.
It’s all done through the VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program — and much of the work is done by student volunteers from local universities like Texas A&M University Central Texas, giving them a chance to put what they’ve learned in class into practice.
”It definitely prepares the students for the real work to help the community,” said Dr. Ran Li, Assistant Professor of Accounting, Texas A&M University Central Texas.
“It’s very beneficial for them.”
Plus, they get a chance to help those in need.
”It feel great to give back to the community and to actually use the stuff we learned in class and to practice these soft skills that are implied a lot, but we don’t actually get to practice,” said Cameran Madsen, accounting student at Texas A&M University Central Texas.
Skills Richard Ibarra is grateful they are sharing with people like him.
”Knowing that it’s here and it’s free, you just have to fight with others to get an appointment but — I think it benefits everybody, especially the community here that sometimes doesn’t have the money to pay for tax preparation," Ibarra said.
They have done hundreds of tax returns already this year, but they are still having to turn some people away because they need more volunteers to handle appointments.
With several weeks to go, they are reaching out to the community for help.
”They can go in our website, UWCT.org, and find the link to sign up to volunteer to do taxes,” Greene said.
“If you don’t have any tax preparation experience, we can train you.”
Appointments are filling up fast, so if anyone needs help with their taxes and they make $60,000 or less, they recommend to schedule your appointment as soon as possible.
