UConn PhD candidate gets tax help from VITA volunteers

Developing methods and software tools for understanding biological data is a familiar process for Xin Li. But how to correctly report his small income to the IRS and to the state of Connecticut was a mystery.

“Even with a fellow student helping me, I just was not sure if I was filling my tax return out correctly or using the right forms,” says Xin, an international student from Beijing who is completing his fourth year PhD program in Bioinformatics at UConn’s School of Computer Science and Engineering.

Then, Xin received an email directing him to the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program on campus. He made an appointment, and was relieved to get much-needed support from an IRS-certified VITA financial volunteer. The volunteer helped him prepare his taxes on the computer; in compliance with IRS regulations for international students, Xin printed and mailed hard copies of his return.

Xin’s wife Huiting is also a PhD candidate in Public Administration at Penn State. After the VITA volunteer looked at the small student incomes of Xin and Huiting, she recommended that they each file under “married filing separately” status.

2018 will be the third year that Xin will receive tax filing support from VITA. “I want to thank VITA for the very professional (and free) services they offer,” he says. “VITA volunteers help you understand the forms and give you guidance. With VITA, I feel confident I have the right tax preparation expertise.”

For more than a decade, VITA and MyFreeTaxes have been helping working families become financially secure. Free tax preparation is one way for families to keep more money in their wallets. Last year, 12,695 tax filers in central and northeastern Connecticut received $24,175,998 in refunds and credits thanks to the VITA program and MyFreeTaxes.com. For more information, visit unitedwayinc.org/myrefund.

The 2018 VITA and MyFreeTaxes program partners are: Community Accounting Services; City of Hartford, Human Resources Agency of New Britain; Internal Revenue Service; The Village for Families & Children; and United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut. The 2018 VITA/MyFreeTaxes program is also generously supported by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and Farmington Bank Community Foundation.