By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Nearly 180 accounting students at the University at Buffalo spent virtually every weekend leading up to this month's tax deadline helping low income residents prepare their returns. They tallied up the numbers and found their efforts brought in a cumulative $1 million in refunds.
Most students want to spend their weekends relaxing with friends and taking a break from the week's classes. But not these 180 students. They're members of an international accounting fraternity who volunteered a total of 2,200 hours preparing the taxes for individuals and families earning below $49,000.
The students are IRS certified. Ryan Linden is a junior accounting student who heads up the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. In a lot of cases, Linden says they find that the low income taxpayer is not taking advantage of Earned Income Tax Credit.
"We're especially pleased that more than $171,000 of the total was a result of the Earned Income Credit, which targets low-income families in need of additional financial support," Linden said. "It means that we helped a number of families who needed it most."
The $992,000 in refunds the student volunteers earned for their clients represents the most ever in the program's three year history.
Click the audio player above to hear Mark Scott's story now or use your podcasting software to download it to your computer or iPod.