Students in accounting instructor Robert Jaros' Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) class are getting some real-world experience by preparing tax returns for people who cannot afford professional assistance.

VITA, a program of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), offers free tax help for people with low to moderate incomes, individuals with disabilities, non-English speakers and elderly taxpayers.

The 13 students in Jaros' VITA class are all certified by the IRS. They attended IRS training and have passed the Basic Tax Law Exam. In addition, they attend classes and volunteer for four hours once a week for ten weeks.

Marci Jensen, a senior accounting major who is enrolled in the VITA course, says, "One of the major goals of the program is to help low-income taxpayers capture their Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)." The EITC is a refunded tax credit of up to $4,300 for working families that, in 2004, earned less than $35,458.

Low-income residents of the city and county of Denver lose an estimated $8 million per year in unclaimed EITC, according to the Denver Asset Building Coalition, which is sponsoring Metro's tax assistance sites. Furthermore, many families that do apply for the EITC have had to pay someone to complete their tax return, diluting the value of their credit.

Jensen, who will be graduating this semester, says, "I enrolled in this class because I wanted to help out. Last week I worked on seven returns and finished four of them. It feels really good to help these people who wouldn't otherwise get this assistance."

The Metro students are assisting people with tax preparation through April 14, on Saturday mornings at the Roger Braun lounge in the Tivoli from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Thursday evenings at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, 1250 Welton, from 5 to 9 p.m.

Free tax preparation assistance is available on a first-come, first-served basis to individuals or families with incomes of $36,000 or less. For further information or to locate other tax preparation assistance sites, go to http://www.denverabc.org/sites.htm.