Business students are spending their Thursdays offering free tax return assistance through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. VITA offers these students practical experience.

“It gives us more practice working outside of class,” Luke Kroeger said.

Accounting students helped August Moritz with his taxes last year and he came back this year.

“The service here is just as effective as any other tax service,” Moritz said. The eight students enrolled in Income Tax Accounting II provide free assistance 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday afternoons in Vogel Library.

They began VITA in February and plan to finish April 10. Any- one is welcome to walk in and receive assistance.

Paul Magnall, professor of business administration and accounting, expressed the students’ need for real-life experience.

“The students learn to file tax returns through coursework, but class cannot prepare students for real experience,” he said.

Magnall said the problems in the book generally provide all the necessary information, but in reality, accountants may not have everything they need right in front of them. VITA gives accounting students the opportunity to gather information from actual documents.

James Nowasell said he is benefiting from the experience he gets and the opportunity to go over what he has done in class. Nowasell said the most difficult part is telling people what they’re going to owe.

VITA was started at Wartburg in 1992. The program assists 80 to 100 people with their tax returns each year. The students also review each other’s work to check for errors in transferring numbers and calculations.