Need help filing your taxes? Georgia United Credit Union is partnering with the Internal Revenue Service and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences of the University of Georgia to provide the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program for the Athens community.

The VITA program offers free tax return assistance to individuals with low to moderate income (who do not have depreciable property, business losses or extensive stock transactions). This year’s VITA site will be located at Georgia United Credit Union’s 190 Gaines School Road branch.   Sessions will be available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings beginning January 24 through April 13 and on Saturdays, January 28 through April 8. For a complete list of available dates and times or to schedule an appointment, please visit gucu.org/membership/vita-tax-prep.  For those without internet access, phone reservations may be made at 888.493.4328 ext. 1486.

The IRS trains UGA students as tax preparers and Georgia United Credit Union provides the office space and funding – with local consumers benefitting by having their taxes prepared and filed electronically at no charge. Approximately 80 UGA students majoring in Financial Planning (College of Family and Consumer Sciences) and Accounting (Terry College of Business) enroll in this service-learning course and participate in the VITA program, earning academic credit for their effort.

Dr. Lance Palmer, Associate Professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, is the coordinator of this UGA course and Georgia United Director and UGA Alumni, Tom Cochran is the coordinator for Georgia United. This VITA partnership has processed over $7.5 million in federal returns and $1.6 million in state returns since it began in 2005. Lance Palmer, an associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ housing and consumer economics department, is the 2013 recipient of the Engaged Scholar Award presented annually by the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach.

Georgia United Board Member, Tom Cochran shared the following statistics from last year’s program, “In 2016, we assisted 856 individuals and were able to successfully submit electronic returns resulting in federal refunds totaling$1,089,807 and state refunds totaling $239,968.”