Manning Students Volunteer to Help Low-Income Community Members File Taxes
Image by Ed Brennen
04/10/2024
By Ed Brennen
Tax Day is right around the corner, and empty chairs are hard to find in the waiting room at Community Teamwork in downtown Lowell.
Down the hall, in one of the nonprofit organization鈥檚 offices, Manning School of Business student Matthew Westhaver is going over tax forms with a woman while her young son watches a cartoon on his mom鈥檚 phone. In nearby offices, fellow business majors Syma Rukhsar and Beatriz Goncalves are getting ready for their next clients.
They are among nine 51视频 students who are volunteering their time to assist low-income individuals and families with their federal and state taxes this spring through paid internships with the Internal Revenue Services鈥� Volunteer Income Tax Assistance () program.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to help people for free,鈥� says Westhaver, a junior accounting student from Stoneham, Massachusetts. 鈥淎nd when someone gets a big refund, they鈥檙e so happy.鈥�
In addition to making a positive impact in the community, students receive three credits by taking part in the internship program, which is coordinated by adjunct accounting faculty member Edgar Carter.
Asst. Prof. of Accounting Cody Lu recruits students in his Federal Income Taxes course for the internship, which he sees as a valuable way to practice what they learn in the classroom.
Image by Ed Brennen
鈥淭ax is such a practical and 鈥榣earn-by-doing鈥� discipline, and a significant portion of our accounting students end up specializing in tax at accounting firms,鈥� says Lu, who notes that employers like to see the VITA internship experience on a student鈥檚 r茅sum茅. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an immediate conversation starter on the job market.鈥�
provides resources like VITA to more than 50,000 low-income people across Middlesex and Essex counties. People who make less than $64,000 a year, are disabled or have limited English skills are eligible for the program.
Last year, 410 individuals received free tax prep services at Community Teamwork. The average refund was $2,634 per household, which means more than $1 million was returned to the local economy through tax refunds and credits.
Student interns receive two months of training from Community Teamwork on things like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child and Family Tax Credit before becoming certified by the IRS in January.
鈥淏y the time February comes around, they鈥檙e ready to roll,鈥� says Eric Rosario, Community Teamwork鈥檚 lead financial education coordinator for VITA.
Students are asked to do a minimum of 25 returns for the season 鈥� although UML students do 鈥渨ay more than that,鈥� Rosario says. 鈥淭hey do an amazing job.鈥澛�
Image by Ed Brennen
Goncalves, a junior finance student from Woburn, Massachusetts, volunteers about eight hours per week.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to be an accountant in the future, maybe a CPA, and this is a great path to do that,鈥� says Goncalves, who finds the work 鈥渧ery fulfilling.鈥�
鈥淧eople who come in for the first time, they鈥檙e like, 鈥業 never knew this was available.鈥� They spend money to file their taxes, and obviously they鈥檙e not in the best situation to do so. For the IRS to offer a free program is great,鈥� she says.
Also interning this semester are business students Lentz Augustin, Riva Chatsman, Cindy Hua, Ryan Parks, Matthew Robotham and David Tettah.
For Westhaver, the internship has been a low-risk way to learn that he prefers the collaboration and group work of audit to the one-on-one work of tax.
鈥淚鈥檝e enjoyed the program, but tax isn鈥檛 for me,鈥� says Westhaver, whose favorite part of the internship has been talking to retired clients. 鈥淭hey have interesting stories to tell about the industries they worked in and the life experiences they鈥檝e had.鈥�
Rukhsar, a senior accounting student from Lowell, was a tax intern last year at Baker Tilly US, where she prepared tax returns for partnerships, corporations and estates. She enrolled in the VITA internship to learn about personal taxes 鈥� while also helping people.
鈥淭his is new to me, but tax is something I might be interested in doing in my future,鈥� says Rukhsar, who is continuing in the Manning School for her Master of Science in Accounting through the Bachelor鈥檚-to-Master鈥檚 Program.
鈥淚t's fun meeting people from Lowell and seeing them get excited when they get a big refund in return,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat is just the best experience for me.鈥�