Video produced by Christopher Palmer, 2009
Every year at the McCombs School of Business, Brian Lendecky teaches his students accounting skills through hands-on community volunteerism. His students use their in-depth tax knowledge to help low-income families get the most out of their tax returns.
As part of the curriculum, students complete 55 volunteer hours working with Community Tax Centers, a Foundation Communities program that partners with the Internal Revenue Service to implement the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program for low-income filers.
This year more than 210 students have taken Lendecky’s class to learn how to prepare taxes for deserving families. That’s nearly 50 percent of all volunteer tax preparers.
In 2009, volunteers at Community Tax Centers helped more than 17,000 people prepare their taxes. With the help of UT students, low-income families claimed more than $27 million in refunds and credits.
To learn more about free tax preparation and who qualifies, visit the Foundation Communities Web site.
