Piedmont Students Offer Free Help with Income Tax Returns

Piedmont University students participating in a new “Special Topics” course this semester will help community members in Habersham and Banks counties with federal and state income tax preparation at no cost to them. This new course is part of the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

Walker College of Business Professors Jay Long and Savannah Brookshire are working with Susie Burton Medina, the local University of Georgia Extension Family and Consumer Sciences coordinator.

“With the first iteration of this course at Piedmont, we have no idea how many clients our students will be able to serve, but the more, the better,” Long said.

Student volunteers were required to successfully complete both the IRS’ rigorous VITA training and certification process, along with Professor Jay Long’s individual income tax course.

Appointments are available in Demorest, Clarkesville, and Homer by calling 706-677-6230 or 706-395-8069. If one of the seven upper-level accounting student volunteers is available, on-campus meetings will be held in the Swanson Center.

Appointments will begin the first full week of February and run through the tax filing deadline of April 15. For more information, email susie.burton@uga.edu.