ATHENS, GA - �Georgia United Credit Union is partnering again this year with the Internal Revenue Service and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences of the University of Georgia to provide the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program for the Athens community.� The IRS trains UGA students as tax preparers and Georgia United Credit Union provides the office space and funding with local consumers benefitting by having their taxes prepared and filed electronically at no charge.
The VITA program offers free tax return assistance to individuals with low to moderate income (who do not have depreciable property, business losses, or extensive stock transactions.) This years VITA site will be located at Georgia United Credit Unions 190 Gaines School Road branch.� �Sessions will be available on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, beginning January 26 through April 13, and on Saturdays, January 30 through April 19.
For a complete list of available dates and times or to schedule an appointment, please visit https://www.gucu.org/membership/vita-tax-prep.� For those without internet access, phone reservations may be made at 706-227-5400, ext. 6486.
UGA students majoring in Financial Planning (College of Family and Consumer Sciences) and Accounting (Terry College of Business) enroll in this service-learning course and participate in the VITA program earn academic credit for their effort.
Dr. Lance Palmer, Associate Professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, helped develop this program for UGA as a service learning course with now retired Department Head Dr. Anne Sweaney, after they were contacted by UGA retiree Tom Cochran who was affiliated with Georgia United Credit Union. From there, the VITA partnership was launched and has grown every year. Lance Palmer, an associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences' housing and consumer economics department, is the 2013 recipient of the Engaged Scholar Award presented annually by the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach.
This is the tenth year of this partnership and Georgia United Board Member and VITA Volunteer Tom Cochran of Athens shared the following statistics from last years program, "In 2015, we assisted
891 individuals and were able to successfully submit
825 returns electronically resulting in federal refunds totaling
$1,034,673 and state refunds totaling
$212,367."
About Georgia United Credit Union
Georgia United Credit Union is ranked as one of the top credit unions in Georgia in both size and safety at over $1 billion in assets, 135,000 members and 18 branches including two in Athens.� Georgia United seeks to make members�lives easier by offering products, services and education to help members meet their needs and achieve their goals.
Georgia United serves the faculty, staff, students and alumni of the University of Georgia, residents of Clarke County, and employees and family members of over 500 select employee companies and school systems including Clarke County Schools.� Additional information may be found at
www.gucu.org.
