WNEM TV 5 Free tax help at Delta College

Delta College faculty and students are again taking part the national Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program and will prepare 1040EZ, 1040A or the basic 1040 federal tax for eligible people for free.

The Delta College tax preparation site is located on main campus in room A-121, within the library (LLIC). This site is open Fridays from 9am to 4pm from Feb. 3 to April 13. The site will be closed during spring break, March 9.

"We provide free federal, state and local tax preparation to virtually anyone who would come in," said Greg Hubner, Assistant Professor of Accounting. "Occasionally, people will have overly complex tax issues that can cause us to decline the preparation of those returns. In addition, since the program is intended for lower income taxpayers, we will decline those earning in excess of certain amounts, approximately $40,000 in most cases."

Hubner is the coordinator of the program at Delta, which is operated under the guidance and administration of the United Way of Saginaw. At Delta, students wanting to participate in the program take ACC216, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. In addition, there are often previous students who simply want to volunteer again. About 432 hours were volunteered helping community members during the 2011 tax season.

"VITA has been around since the 60s in the United States. I participated as a student at Michigan State," Hubner said. "When I began working at Delta College, I learned that the United Way operated VITA sites in all three counties. I thought it would be a great opportunity to have a site at Delta and utilize students to prepare the returns."

In addition to providing tax preparation services, Delta College also provides annual training to all VITA volunteers in the Great Lakes Bay Region, approximately 100 people, by hosting a three-day program during the first week of January.

To find out more, including what information to bring to complete your tax return, visit www.delta.edu/vita. People with additional questions can contact Greg Hubner at gregoryhubner@delta.edu or 989-686-9043.

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