Media Advisory: UB provides free tax prep services to Western New Yorkers

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Every year, dozens of University at Buffalo students provide free tax preparation services to hundreds of qualifying individuals and families in Western New York.

The tradition continues this year as officials will gather Thursday to spotlight the services that IRS-certified accounting students from the UB School of Management provide to the community.

News media are invited to attend and learn about the program, which has prepared more than 10,000 tax returns and brought nearly $13 million in tax refunds back to participants over the past eight years.

What: Officials will provide information about the free tax preparation services that UB student volunteers provide to the Western New York community.

When: 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22.

Where: Allen Hall on UB’s South Campus.

Who: Elected officials including state Sen. Sean Ryan and state Assemblymember Jonathan Rivera. UB student volunteers. UB officials from the School of Management and Office of the President.

"Tax preparation can be a confusing and time-consuming process. Through the generosity of student volunteers, this program guides many members of our community through the process to help ensure they are filing their taxes correctly. Thank you to the student volunteers and the UB School of Management for bringing this great program to Buffalo each year,” Ryan said.

“For too many Western New Yorkers, tax time is an undue and cumbersome burden. This free tax prep service helps working men and women ensure their taxes are in order and helps train the next generation of financial professionals in the fundamentals of good customer service. I applaud the University at Buffalo’s School of Management and especially the student volunteers for this extraordinary act of community service,” Rivera said.

Note: Student volunteers will not be providing tax preparation services at Thursday’s news conference. For more detailed information on the program, including scheduling of tax prep services, visit: management.buffalo.edu/freetaxprep.

Background: The free tax prep program is available to individuals and families with annual income of $73,000 or less. This service is especially valuable to low-income tax filers by helping them apply for earned income tax credits that can provide a needed boost in annual income.

The tax service is provided by the IRS-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program with volunteers from the UB chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an international honors organization for accounting and finance students, and the UB Accounting Association.

Editor's note: This media advisory was updated after it was initially published to include quotes from state Sen. Sean Ryan and state Assemblymember Jonathan Rivera.