Volume 12, Number 1, 2003
As soon as Hathi Nguyen, BE 2003, heard about efforts to help low-income Delawareans claim a federal tax credit designed to put more money in the pockets of the working poor, she says she wanted to lend a hand.
"I knew that this program helps many low-income people in the community and enhances their spending power, which helps the local economy," the finance major says. "I also volunteered because I hoped to gain experience for my future employment."
Nguyen was one of two dozen UD students, many from the Lerner College of Business and Economics, who volunteered this tax season with a community-based program that helped eligible workers claim the credit, which many of the taxpayers didn't even realize they were entitled to receive.
The federal Earned Income Tax Credit is available to workers who earn less than $33,000 a year, but the paperwork involved in figuring eligibility and then claiming the credit often deters qualified taxpayers, advocates say. The IRS has estimated that about 25 percent of Americans entitled to the credit--which can be worth up to $4,000, depending on a family's size and income--do not claim it.
In Delaware, the Nehemiah Gateway Community Development Corp. launched a public awareness campaign this year to educate low-income workers about the tax credit. The nonprofit agency also recruited 250 volunteers, including 24 UD students, to help eligible workers file their tax returns and claim the credit.
"Last year, we did a small, pilot program, but this year's effort was really very extensive," says Mary Dupont, executive director of Nehemiah Gateway, which is based in Wilmington. "We prepared about 2,700 tax returns at 12 locations around the state, and we got about $4 million in refunds for clients."
In recruiting volunteers for the program, Dupont says, she contacted Kent St. Pierre, chairperson of the Department
of Accounting and Management Information Systems. He made B&E students aware of the opportunity to help the community while honing their own tax-preparation skills.
"It's an excellent program where students do something good for the community," St. Pierre says. "It takes their business and accounting knowledge and applies it."
Like all the volunteers, the students attended training sessions and made a commitment to work one day a week at one of the program's sites. Each location was staffed by a professional tax preparer, who reviewed all returns before they were filed.
Volunteer Erik Jazwiecki, BE 2004, says the sites were busy, particularly as April 15 approached, and the work was both satisfying and educational. "I'm an accounting major, and I figured that tax preparation was something I'd be dealing with in my career someday, so it would be useful to learn how to do it," he says. "A lot of the clients had never heard of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and they were really happy to get refunds they didn't expect."
Dupont says she plans to expand the program next year and will be seeking "an army of volunteers" to help. She hopes many will be UD students.
"We got a terrific response this year from the University, and I was very impressed with the students," she says. "Besides being smart, they're well-mannered and conscientious, and they made a big contribution to the program."
For information about the program or to volunteer for next year, contact Mary Dupont at (302) 655-0803 or by e-mail at [info@eitcdelaware.net].