Local community residents have saved nearly $22,000 by filing their income tax with assistance from accounting students on Barry University’s main campus.
Individuals and families were expected to receive nearly $98,000 in refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this year, said Dr. Kevin Kemerer, associate professor of accounting.
Barry’s main campus is the Miami Shores site for the IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. During the 2019 tax-filing season, the site handled 109 tax returns, most of which were filed electronically.
“Based on our 104 e-files for the 2018 tax year, individuals and families should receive refunds totaling $97,824,” Kemerer said. He disclosed that the preparation of the 109 returns, including five on paper, resulted in taxpayer savings of an estimated $21,800.
The VITA program offers free tax assistance to people who generally make $55,000 or less, as well as persons with disabilities and taxpayers who speak limited English. IRS-certified volunteers provide basic income tax return preparation to qualified individuals.
Kemerer noted that 28 taxpayers who qualified for earned income-tax credit (EIC), a tax reduction and a wage supplement, would receive EIC refunds of just under $20,000.
Through his service-learning course on federal income tax, Kemerer taught students the tax code and the fundamentals of tax preparation. Students also took a battery of tests as part of the IRS certification.
The students, who provided tax preparation service to low- and moderate-income members of the community, were Lavell Applewhite, Rachel Bacchus, Krystal Barrios, Jennifer Brizard, Ricardo Burford Jr., Christian Cabrera, Joshua Delva, Victoria Lulciuc, Peyton Rawls, Adrienne Wilcox, and Amilcar Yanez.
Barry alumna Nair Manuel also served at the VITA site. This was Manuel’s fourth year as a volunteer tax preparer.
Kemerer, who has served for six years as the VITA site coordinator, gave a report during the end-of-semester celebration for his accounting class on May 9.
On hand to acknowledge the work of the volunteers were Gina Ruiz-Fernandez, IRS senior tax consultant; Dr. Joan Phillips, dean of the Andreas School of Business; and Dr. Glenn Bowen, executive director of the Center for Community Service Initiatives.
Phillips and Bowen thanked Kemerer and his students for exemplifying the university’s core commitments, including collaborative service. Phillips pointed to Kemerer’s “servant leadership” and Bowen to the “measurable impact” of the students’ service to the community.
Ruiz-Fernandez expressed appreciation for the service provided at the VITA site over a six-year period. “We are proud of this partnership,” she said, “and we’re looking forward to many more years with Barry.”
Noting that the nationwide VITA was celebrating its 50th anniversary, Ruiz-Fernandez said that in 1969, the program had 7,500 volunteers, who assisted with the preparation of 100,000 tax returns. So far this year, she added, more than 80,000 volunteers serving at 11,000 sites had prepared over 3 million tax returns.