Ferrum Students and Professor File For Free

 (540) 365-4302/ dhailey@ferrum.edu

           Four Ferrum students, one Ferrum alumna, and one Ferrum professor have been busy preparing and electronically filing taxes for free.  Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is an IRS-sponsored national program which prepares certified public accountants, like Ferrum accounting professor Dave Sulzen, to train a team of volunteer tax preparers who want to help low-income families and the elderly complete and file their tax returns.
           
           Sulzen trained several of his accounting students, Ferrum senior Nick Elliott and juniors Chris Patrick, Shirley Bryant, and Travis Odom.  Susan Hall, a 1994 graduate of Ferrum College, has pitched in her time as well after working all day as a professional tax preparer for a local firm.  The team has prepared dozens of returns for Ferrum students as well as community members.
           
           “This is great hands-on experience for the students, and I, personally, supervise and review each return they prepare.  We have limits on what we can and cannot prepare,” explains Sulzen. 
           
           The team can file most Form 1040 returns, as well as child, dependent care, and education credits.  They cannot prepare Schedule C, D, or E, or several other more advanced forms.  There are also income limitations for the free service, but interested persons are encouraged to attend a tax session to see if they qualify.
           
           “We want to prepare as many as possible, and we are trying to service all kinds of income situations so the students can learn to file the more complex forms.  We welcome anyone who hasn’t filed yet this year to come out and see if we can help them,” says Sulzen. 
           
           Sulzen and his students will work on taxes every Tuesday until April 15th.  They are available on the Ferrum campus from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. They also prepare taxes in the Rocky Mount United Methodist Church gymnasium, located in the rear of the Church, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  For more information, contact David Sulzen at (540) 365-4316.

           Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church.  Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelorís degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges.  To learn more about the College, call 1-800-868-9797 or visit www.ferrum.edu.

            Nick Elliott, a senior accounting major at Ferrum College, prepares senior liberal arts major Christy Moore’s taxes under the watchful eye of Ferrum College Accounting Professor and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) David Sulzen.  Sulzen has been trained by the IRS to give income tax assistance to low income and elderly individuals and families. 

            “I’ve been trained to also train our students to volunteer their time to help with this worthwhile project.  I personally check every return and I would stack our returns up against the large tax preparation houses any day,” says a confident Sulzen.

            The four student preparers and Sulzen have put in 5 hours per week since February and will continue the tax preparation service until April 15, the last day to file returns without a penalty.

            “We’ve mostly prepared student returns since most qualify as low income.  We also work on returns at Rocky Mount Methodist Church from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights to service those folks convenient to Rocky Mount,” says Sulzen.