Our Jabs accounting students have had the unique opportunity to travel to remote areas of Alaska as a part of the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) since 2008. Usually between four to six students have spent Spring Break volunteering in rural Alaska.

Interested in the tax help program in Alaska? Apply Now! Click here for the fillable PDF.

Jabs Student Program Timeline

November 22 – deadline to submit application and resume to Gary Liu, hua.liu1@montana.edu. 

February 7 – travel to Alaska

February 16 – return to Montana

Apply TODAY If You Are...

  • Passionate about assisting rural Alaskan residents with their tax preparation needs;
  • At least 18 years old;
  • Able to follow through on all program commitments;
  • Willing and able to communicate timely with ABDC;
  • Able to complete ABDC and VITA/TCE training materials in a timely manner (Tax preparer Training requires tax software to be installed on a Windows computer; it is not compatible with Macs);
  • Able to attend in-class training prior to travel and equip yourself with the necessary gear
  • Able to travel in small aircraft in February

Next Steps for Volunteers

  • Complete application
  • Submit $200 refundable deposit
  • Complete the VITA Certification and ABDC training materials as scheduled (estimated 40 hours)
  • Travel to Alaska
  • Attend orientation/training in Anchorage; shop for food
  • Travel to villages and provide quality tax assistance
  • Attend debriefing upon return to Anchorage
  • Receive refund on deposit
  • Return home

Questions? Contact Gary Liu, hua.liu1@montana.edu.

About the Program

This program is in collaboration with ABDC, an Anchorage based nonprofit, has been providing business consulting
services to rural Alaska for more than four decades.

The Volunteer Tax and Loan Program (VTLP) was created after recognizing the need for tax assistance in the isolated rural communities. Quality tax assistance has been brought directly to the isolated rural communities for over 25 years through the VTLP. The success of the program is in part due to the valued volunteers (like our Jabs students!) that ABDC recruits and trains each year to provide tax preparation and education.

 

 

Learn more about our students' experiences in this program:

 

See below for a past student video from the VITA trip in Alaska: