During the 2025 tax season, more than a hundred School of Accountancy (SOA) students from the BYU Marriott School of Business helped community members file their taxes for free through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) lab. These students filed almost 1,000 tax returns, helping to share light as they empathized and advocated for others through the tax return process, says Jon Kerr, the VITA lab faculty advisor.
Students who assist in the lab have the opportunity to work one-on-one with community members, explains MAcc student and Las Vegas native Ariel Holtz. “When we put our studies to work, to really help people and benefit them through the things that we've learned, we’ve been able to share a light and at least a little bit of peace with them.”
Holtz says volunteering in the VITA lab has helped her feel more confident serving in other aspects of her life. “Before, I was hesitant to offer help to people, but now I see that when you offer help to someone, you're really just showing love for them,” she says. “Sometimes people don't need our help, but a lot of times we can do some good.”
Tanner Wolfe, a lab volunteer and MAcc student from Thousand Oaks, California, recalls a woman who came into the lab, visibly anxious at the prospect of filing her taxes. She met one-on-one with a student, who guided her through the filing process.
“She was so grateful that we had been able to help her out with everything,” he says. The next day, Wolfe came into the lab to a handwritten thank-you letter. “It was just so sincere and so heartfelt. The letter made us feel like we were really having an impact on the people around us.”
And that impact expands beyond tax returns, Kerr says. “It's really exciting to see a lot of these students who really sink into the role,” he explains. "They rise to the occasion, they empathize with these individuals, they get to know people on a first-name basis. They're really able to connect with these individuals and provide a saving influence, at least monetarily, for a brief moment.”
Holtz says those moments of connection, where she is able to focus on others, are important to her as well. “I think when we truly focus on each other, that's when we can really feel the love of Jesus Christ,” Holtz says. “That's when we can come closer together and we can feel more united as people, as children of God—and I love that feeling.”