UM students prep taxes in Alaska

Five UM students recently returned from a Spring Break trip to Alaska, where they offered residents free assistance in filing their taxes as part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance — or VITA — program.

The accounting students traveled to Barrow in late March, then boarded small airplanes to reach the tiny Native Alaskan villages of the North Slope along the Arctic Ocean. Once there, they spent their days helping more than 100 Alaskans file their taxes.

UM Professor Barbara Reider of the Department of Accounting and Finance helped organize the trip and traveled with the students. She said the Alaskans they assisted received an average tax refund of about $1,000. For many residents “that’s a fairly good source of income,” Reider said.

This year 17 UM students applied for the five volunteer positions. Those selected received independent study credits for their work. They also were required to help Montanans with their taxes on Saturdays in March before making the trip.

Participating students were Amber Daugherty, Dustin White, Tessa Peressini and Jamie Hoffman, who are all in the Master of Accountancy program. Bryan Brosious, a graduating senior who will be in the Master of Accountancy program next year, also made the trip.

VITA began in 1996 at the University of Alaska Anchorage. In its first year, VITA served five Alaskan villages. Today it serves more than 90 villages, thus the need for students from outside Alaska to help meet the demand for volunteers. UM began participating in the program in 2007.

Forbes.com magazine recently featured a story about VITA. Read it online at http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2008/03/21/afx4802426.html.

VITA is funded, in part, by the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, a private corporation representing the business interests of the Arctic Slope Inupiat Native Alaskans. Reider says as long as the program maintains funding, UM students will continue to participate.