Wharton group gives locals tax relief

Last year, $80 million of Earned Income Tax Credit remained unclaimed in the Philadelphia community. So in order to put this money to use, second-year Wharton graduate student Patrick McClanahan and first-year Wharton graduate student Justin Berman decided to establish the Wharton Tax Assistance Program. The WTAP will join forces with the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Campaign for Working Families and the Internal Revenue Service to volunteer at free tax-filing sites. There are a total of 26 sites in the Philadelphia area that support the program, and the WTAP supports one of these sites -- the West Philadelphia Regional Library. According to McClanahan, the goals of the program are an "increase in the participation in the EITC and to provide free service to low-income families [who earn approximately $30,000 per year] in West Philadelphia." "The average EITC is $4,000 per qualifying family, so if we achieve our goal, we'll be bringing in $2 million to the West Philadelphia community via the low-income families," McClanahan added. So far, the program has a total of 40 volunteers and has the second-largest team in the city of Philadelphia. The team's first year goal is to assist 500 tax filers during this year's tax season. Randall Thorson, the treasurer of WTAP and a first-year Wharton Management student, said the new program has been educational for him. "I'm interested in both volunteering and learning the tax code better," Thorson said. "This couldn't have been a better opportunity for me in those respects." Thorson said that so far, the program has attracted many local Philadelphia residents and is so popular that they "typically have to turn some away because there is a pretty big response to the phrase 'free tax preparation.'" Second-year Wharton graduate student John Feriancek is another volunteer for the WTAP. "I volunteered for the program because it was an opportunity to help residents of West Philly and because it was a way to positively promote Wharton within the West Philly community," he said. "WTAP really captures the spirit of reinvesting in the community," he continued. "When you look at the unlikely alliance formed here between underserved communities, Wharton and the IRS, that's impressive," Thorson stated. Berman added to Thorson's statement, noting that, "There is so much to get involved with on campus, and I feel students don't have the time to get involved in the local Philadelphia community, and this a a great way to do it." Students who are interested in volunteering for the WTAP do not need any prior experience. According to the WTAP Operations Coordinator and second-year Wharton graduate student Abigail Nachtomi, "There is no need for a volunteer to have any formal accounting training -- the computerized tax preparation program is simple and easy to use." Those who decide to volunteer for the program receive a total of eight hours of IRS certification training. Following this training, the WTAP team members will volunteer at approximately four different four-hour sessions at the West Philadelphia Regional Library. Overall, Feriancek noted that for him, "the program is less about what it will do for Wharton, and more about what Wharton can do for the community."