With Tax Season Here, Students Help Bronx Residents File and Get Returns

Students in Manhattan College’s O’Malley School of Business are working with University Neighborhood Housing Program’s (UNHP) Northwest Bronx Resource Center to provide free tax preparation to low income families throughout the borough.

Since 2010, student volunteers have filed taxes for more than 10,000 families at UNHP through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, known as VITA.

In 2017, 48 Manhattan College students worked with the program’s volunteers to prepare more than 1,500 returns and helped Bronx residents receive $1.9 million in refunds, with the preparations done free of charge.

The VITA program offers free tax preparation assistance to qualified families with an income of $54,000 or less and individuals with a gross income below $30,000. Filers with an income of $64,000 or less can also prepare their own returns online alongside a tax professional. In 2017, the average adjusted gross income for a tax filer at UNHP was $17,100.

The UNHP income tax preparation program helps qualified taxpayers avoid costly tax preparation fees and predatory products while empowering low and moderate income filers to master the tax filing process and federal and state credits.

Interested individuals should visit www.unhp.org or call UNHP at 718-933-2539 to determine if they qualify for this service. The 2018 tax program will be held at UNHP (2715 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NY 10458) on Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment only until Wednesday, April 11.