OGDEN — While taxes aren’t due for another month, Tuesday is the last day people can have their taxes prepared and filed by a Saint Joseph Catholic High School Jay Hawk. A handful of the school’s seniors participated in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program for the first time this year.

Thirty seniors began training with VITA site coordinator Darcie Costello in January. Learning basic-level tax preparation, tax law, ethics and online software is needed to pass a series of exams before anyone can volunteer in the program facilitated by the Internal Revenue Service.

Costello has eight years of experience with VITA at the college level as a site coordinator at Quinnipiac University. This year is her first time working with high school students.

She introduced the idea to Saint Joseph Catholic High School Principal Clay Jones after learning the high schoolers could volunteer in the program.

As the mother of a Jay Hawk, and an assistant professor of accounting and taxation at Weber State University, Costello said she felt the program was a great way for seniors to earn the 40 volunteer hours required to graduate.

“It’s important to have that financial literacy,” she said.

After successfully completing their training, students volunteer for five sessions, each one five hours long, completed outside of school hours.

Saint Joseph seniors began preparing taxes completely free of charge on Feb. 8, for those needing help filing. Those who volunteer for the program are trained specific to their position. They can be a site coordinator, tax preparer, greeter or quality reviewer.

“They were a little hesitant at first,” Costello said. “Overall, I think they enjoyed being helpful.”

Senior Jay Hawks are reportedly the only high school students participating in the VITA program this year, but they are not the first.

Ogden High School volunteered for VITA in 2019 and 2020 according to Leland Smith, the IRS senior stakeholder relationship tax consultant. Leland said he believes they opted out of the program after the pandemic hit.

VITA was established in 1969 to offer tax-paying citizens of low-to-moderate income levels a free service. People with disabilities, limited English-speaking abilities or generally make $58,000 or less annually qualify for free tax help.

“No one ever pays. It’s actually against the law to charge for services provided by VITA,” Smith said.

In addition to VITA, the IRS manages a Tax Counseling for the Elderly program where people 60 years of age and older can receive tax preparation assistance, specializing in pensions and retirement-related issues unique to senior citizens.

According to the IRS, tens of thousands of volunteers prepare millions of federal and state returns. Available VITA/TCE sites can be found online at http://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/.

To become an IRS partner in the community, people can contact the IRS VITA Grant Office via email at Grant.Program.Office@irs.gov.

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