After being approached by the Hillsboro Senior Center, the Tabor College business department decided to revitalize an income tax program for area seniors.
Business students will be available in the Tabor College Business Studies Building Tuesday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. through the end of March to assist area seniors wanting aid on income tax preparation.
According to Norm Hope, professor of business administration, this program differs from the one offered for a couple of years during the mid-1990s.
"The previous program was a program of the IRS called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)," he said. "(The current program) is not affiliated with any specific program, government or otherwise."
The "driving force" behind this collaborative effort is Jesse Schumacher, instructor of business administration, who served as coordinator of a similar program at Anderson (Ind.) University.
Assisting Schumacher is Pa Nyang, a Tabor College junior from Gambia.
"Benefits for both the students and senior citizens are fairly discernable," Hope said. "This benefits the community because their taxes get done. It benefits the students because they get the experience of working with clients and interviewing them to get information to complete the returns."
The service is free; however if the returns are deemed too complex, participants will be asked to visit a professional tax preparer.
