Members of Beta Alpha Psi, the national honor fraternity for financial information professionals, and students in tax classes at The ASM at UNM, recently prepared more than 200 individual tax returns for clients of ARCA, an organization that provides job training and literacy skills for people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities in the Albuquerque area.
“This partnership is a great way for students to put into practice the concepts they have been learning in class and at the same time see a large benefit resulting from their work,” said Craig White, faculty advisor for the UNM Beta Alpha Psi chapter. “The program is student-based with 35 volunteers. They work with the IRS coordinator in town for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
“The IRS is very supportive of work we do for ARCA. They provide everything we need to complete the returns including forms, logistics materials and training for students take online course to qualify as online volunteers.”
Each year, ARCA caseworkers collect tax information from each of its group home residents. The information usually includes a W-2 wage statement, Social Security information, and a summary worksheet that is prepared by the caseworker. Packets are assembled and brought to The Anderson Schools for federal and state tax preparation by student volunteers. Many of ARCA’s clients qualify for the federal earned income credit and the New Mexico low-income comprehensive tax rebate. This year’s preparation work facilitated total refunds of at least $40,000.
“It really helps us out a great deal,” said ARCA’s Cindy McDuff. “Our caseworkers are loaded with paper work from the day-to-day things they need to do. It really helps us to have UNM volunteers assist us with the returns. The returns are not that difficult but it helps the students go through the
procedure of preparing tax returns and it helps our individuals by getting this service done for them correctly.
“I can’t imagine having to do it with out the help of the volunteers. It is such a successful program for us. We want to make it easy for students and we’re glad it benefits them. It’s infinitely easier to have the students work with us this way,” she added.
Beta Alpha Psi is a national fraternity that encourages and recognizes scholastic and professional excellence in the business information field. The organization was founded in 1919 and has since grown to nearly 230 chapters on college campuses across the country with over 230,000 members initiated since its founding.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
Posted by scarr at April 27, 2005 12:12 PM