This tax season, hundreds of low-income New Jersey citizens will receive a real break from more than 60 Rutgers–Camden students who are providing free assistance in preparing income tax returns.

Thanks to the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden, students have been trained to help in the preparation of federal and New Jersey state tax returns.  The program offers access to these free services on the Rutgers–Camden campus.

The student volunteers will seek to help clients complete their income tax returns on time and identify as many deductions as possible.

At the Rutgers–Camden law school, the VITA program has an established tradition of delivering this valuable service.  In 2009, Rutgers–Camden law students assisted approximately 300 clients and helped to secure more than $350,000 in refunds above the amounts owed. 

Jonathan Klein, a third-year law student at Rutgers–Camden, became involved with VITA in 2008.  “I quickly saw how much this program helped the people of Camden, and ended up volunteering nearly every week,” he recalls.

This year, the Medford resident is one of the student coordinators for the Rutgers–Camden program.

“We do not handle overly complicated returns. Our clients are low-income residents in the surrounding area, and we simply want to make sure that they get the largest tax return possible,” explains Klein. “Most of our clients benefit from the Earned Income Tax Credits we get for them. Any amount really makes a difference in their lives and it is an amazing program to be a part of because of how much it means to the clients.”

Dedication to the Rutgers–Camden law school’s VITA program fuels the enthusiasm among the student service providers. “I started doing this program last year, and realized how much it helps the residents of Camden. Although taxes can be overly complicated, the VITA program helps to simplify things and assist the residents of Camden in getting the credits that they are entitled to,” says Voorhees resident Jeanette Kwon, a second-year student at the Rutgers–Camden law school.

“Through our training, we target certain areas on tax returns that would most help our clients and are therefore able to get them a bigger return. It is the surprise and the gratitude received from clients that drew me back to the program,” continues Kwon, who also serves as a VITA student coordinator.

The Rutgers law school VITA program is offered on the Rutgers–Camden Campus on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 to 7:30 p.m. through April 7, and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon on Feb. 20, Feb. 27, March 6, March 27, and April 4.  Each session will be held in West Conference Room A on the lower level of the Campus Center, located on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers–Camden Campus.

For more information about the VITA program at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden, contact Pam Mertsock-Wolfe at (856) 225-6406.