About

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-sponsored tax preparation program that was established almost 50 years ago. The primary objective of the program is to provide free tax filing assistance to targeted groups; low-to-middle income tax payers, senior citizens, veterans, non-native speakers/low English proficiency individuals.

What is the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program?

The York VITA program was established by Professor Robert Clovey in 2008. From the inception of the program (Spring 2008), York VITA interns have prepared in excess of 25,000 tax returns, have saved the community in excess of $5,000,000 in tax filing fees and have generated refunds (Federal & New York State) in excess of $25 million. During the 2017 tax season, there were approximately 10,000 VITA sites nationwide, York VITA was ranked #43 based on the volume of returns prepared.

Each tax season, the York VITA program recruits approximately 150 students to work in the program. Training for the program occurs during the fall semester with actual tax preparation and serving of clients taking place in the spring semester during the months of January through April. The program is an initiative sponsored by York College and by the Department of Accounting and Finance.

Robert Clovey

Professor Robert Clovey
Volunteer Tax Coordinator