SPRINGFIELD, Mo., January 28, 2025 — Drury University students will provide free tax preparation through an IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site. The annual tax preparation service is open to the public and is designed to benefit low-income taxpayers.
“VITA provides an important hands-on learning experience for our students,” said Dr. Janie Whiteaker-Poe, Assistant Professor of Accounting. “They are excited to apply what they have learned in their accounting program in a way that benefits our community.”
The Drury tax service accepts walk-in clients. The site calls its last client on each date one hour before closing. VITA clinics are held at the O’Reilly Enterprise Center on the corner of Central Street and Drury Lane. The clinics will be held at the following times:
Drury students will also participate in tax preparation at the Taxapalooza Community Event, held at the Springfield Dream Center located at 829 West Atlantic Street, Springfield, MO. This clinic accepts walk-in clients from 9 – 3 p.m. Appointments are not accepted. This event will be held on the following date and time:
All returns will be filed electronically unless the IRS requires a manual return. All taxpayers must be available to sign the appropriate forms in the case of joint returns.
“This is a wonderful service to the community which Drury has been offering since 1996,” said Dr. Daniel Bumblauskas, Dean of the Breech School of Business Education. “We look forward to supporting those who need adequate tax preparation once more during the 2025 tax season, as it is an honor to support the Springfield community through this service.”
Taxpayers need to bring photo ID and Social Security cards for themselves and dependents, as well as any tax documentation that they have received, including all W-2 forms, 1099 forms, and statements issued by brokerage firms. Clients are also asked to bring a copy of their 2023 state and federal tax returns to help speed up the filing process.
Due to limitations set by the federal government, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs are unable to help taxpayers who have declared bankruptcy or incurred insolvency during the tax year, have rental property, have a self-owned business with inventory, depreciable property, or had an overall loss for the year, and certain situations in which a taxpayer has received forgiveness of debt.
To learn more about the VITA Tax Clinic, contact Dr. Whiteaker-Poe at (417) 873-7828/hwhiteaker-poe@drury.edu or visit drury.edu/business/vita/.
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Media Contact: Kevin Kropf, Ed.D., Executive Vice President of Enrollment Management, Marketing & Communications | Office: (417) 873-7524 | Email: kkropf@drury.edu