VITA, the MTC and the modern accounting curriculum.

• Author: Long, Brett J.
• Position: Part 2 - Volunteer income tax assistance, modern tax curriculum

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Part I of this two-part column, in the August 2007 issue, discussed setting up a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Part II, below, addresses integrating VITA into an accounting program.

Integrating VITA into the Accounting Program

If accounting faculty members determine that the benefits of having a VITA program outweigh the costs, they must then decide on the most effective way to integrate VITA into the accounting program. This will depend on whether the accounting program has retained the traditional first course on individual taxation or has adopted the Modern Tax Curriculum (MTC) approach. The objectives of a federal individual taxation course are typically consistent with students' participation in a VITA program. While it is difficult to adequately train students for a spring tax course by early February, those who have successfully completed a semester course on individual taxation make effective VITA volunteers. Students may still require additional VITA training, but the amount will be much less than the 40-plus hours recommended by the Service. If a second undergraduate tax class on business entities is offered, those students can be encouraged to participate in VITA to reinforce the lessons learned in their individual taxation course. However, if the accounting program has adopted an MTC approach, it will be more difficult to reconcile the first undergraduate tax course with the VITA program.

Tax Complexity, E-Filing, and the MTC

Because of the increased complexity of the tax laws, the increased use of technology in tax compliance, and the MTC's changes to tax curricula, coordinating and operating a VITA program has become more challenging. The complexity of individuals' financial situations makes it difficult to staff a VITA program with accounting students who are taking or have just completed their first tax course. The IRS's extensive training materials demonstrate the complexity of the applicable federal tax law (see IRS Pub. 678, Volunteer Student Guide). Taxpayers who use a university-sponsored VITA site typically include retirees, low-income wage earners, students, and foreign students. These taxpayers may have complex issues involving the credit for the elderly or the disabled, the earned income credit, the credit for qualified retirement savings contributions, education credits, child tax credits, and child-care credits. They may have retirement distributions, unemployment benefits...