TCC
OFFERS TAX-PREP RELIEF FOR QUALIFIED TAX PAYERS
Students give and get tax help for under-$36K income filers
NORFOLK, Va. – (Feb. 4, 2005) – For some Tidewater
Community College business students, this semester will include
“taxing” class work, with that infamous April 15 deadline
in mind.
TCC’s participation in the Internal Revenue Service’s
Volunteer Tax Assistance Program (VITA) - up and running at the
college for 24 tax seasons - trains students to become IRS-certified
volunteers, ready and able to provide tax-preparation services
to the community.
VITA services are available for students and others earning $36,000
or less. “We do simple returns and can e-file right from
campus,” says volunteer Debbie Hall, VITA coordinator for
2005. “We see TCC employees, students and people from the
community and help them get the most from their tax returns,”
Hall says. “We make sure they document items and take important
deductions like the education credit, earned-income credit and
the child credit.”
This year, students from Principles of Federal Taxation I are
training to become IRS-certified volunteers under the supervision
of professor Cynthia Bird. “We developed a hybrid course
this year that incorporates VITA right into the classroom, training
all registered students to become volunteers. Now we can offer
one-on-one service, most Monday evenings, from now until the end
of March.”
Bird notes that the latest tax acts have made changes to more
than 500 code sections. “It’s tough for people to
keep up with it all,” she adds. “We’re happy
to provide this service for TCC students and our Hampton Roads
neighbors.”
Beginning Feb. 14, services are offered Monday evenings from 7:15
to 9 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Virginia Beach
Campus, room H272. Those seeking tax help should bring a valid
picture ID, Social Security Card, 2003 tax return and 2004 tax
documents.
Services are also available on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
in room H243 and by appointment. For information, call 822-7332.
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Laurie White |
Media Relations |
757-822-1085 |
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Tidewater Community College
is the second largest of the 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth
of Virginia, enrolling more than 35,000 students annually. The 37th
largest in the nation’s 1,600 community-college network, TCC
ranks among the 50 fastest-growing large community colleges. Founded
in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the
college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake,
Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne
and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district
in downtown Norfolk, the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth
and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-four
percent of the region’s residents attending a college or university
in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC. For more information,
visit www.tcc.edu
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