Professor B. Brian Lee, Ph.D., CPA
HOUSTON (March 5, 2020) – Twice a year during the tax preparation season, Prairie View A&M University College of Business (COB) Accounting Professor Bu-Ryung Brian Lee, Ph.D., CPA, and several graduate students enrolled in his accounting course head to the Korean-American Senior Citizens Association Center in northwest Houston.
“Last year, we did good. I believe we had a total of around 120 to 130 returns,” said Lee.
For the last 14 years, Lee has been providing a free service by the Internal Revenue Service, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), to the Korean Community. VITA provides tax help to people who make $56,000 or less, persons with disabilities, and people with limited English skills.
Retired College of Business Professor Bill Vetter, LL.M., says the VITA program began at PVAMU in 2002 when an IRS representative, who handled outreach for the organization, had a meeting with M. Moosa Khan, Ph.D., professor and head of the Department of Accounting, Finance, & MIS, and COB Dean Munir Quddus, Ph.D. The representative suggested starting a VITA program at Prairie View.
“I talked with the dean, department chair, and my tax students, and we discussed how they could go about becoming prepared and organizing things. I got a number of volunteers,” recalled Vetter. “We did it really quickly. We ended up with eight student volunteers and eight tax returns.”
VITA and PVAMU
After a slow start—including a challenge with recruiting undergraduates for training and finding a consistent location for the free service—Vetter says the on-campus VITA program found its stride.
“I think we got up to doing up 350 returns in a couple of years, then about 250 to 350 for four or five years, then, it kind of tapered off,” Vetter said. “We didn’t get too many volunteers, and we were struggling to find a place. We really didn’t have a good campus location to do those types of things.”
PVAMU’s VITA Program in the Community
Retired College of Business Professor Bill Vetter, LL.M.
Location wasn’t an issue for the PVAMU VITA service at the Korean Center in Houston.
“Dr. Vetter took care of the campus VITA and the Waller County area as well. But he retired,” Lee explained. “Then, I took over what he had done. It was actually too much! So, I had to choose just one. So, I chose to continue at the Korean Center.”
Vetter volunteers alongside Lee at the Korean Center, even after retirement from “The Hill” in 2018.
“It ended up being mostly a family thing with Dr. Lee, and Mrs. Lee, me, and, for some years, my wife doing the tax returns. And some years, we get grad students to come over and help us, too,” Vetter said.
Graduate Student Involvement
Each spring semester, Lee requires graduate students enrolled in his course, Seminar on Tax Consulting, Planning, and Research, ACCT 5153, to complete the VITA basics certificate program. This means most of the students are certified tax preparers before they participate in the VITA sessions at the Korean Center.
“It’s very beneficial for the residents, who are mostly elderly and lower-income,” Lee said. “With my students, there are some Korean interpreters to help them to communicate.”
Consistent Community Service
After 14 years of regular service, Lee says there’s no need for promotions or paying for advertising because the families served have become an extended family of Lee’s, Vetter’s, and some of his students.
Vetter said, “That’s been a really good thing because it’s reaching out to the Korean community. We have people come back every year. There are quite a few people every year that I recognize and who recognize me. It’s been a pretty steady, and successful, I think, service.”
Lee agrees and says the experience is good for students personally and professionally.
“From the student perspective, they learn. Last year, one student sent an email saying that now she gets paid for preparing tax returns. It’s a good experience for students,” Lee said. “Also, it promotes bi-cultural and multicultural experiences. I say, ‘You don’t have to travel to Korea. You can just go to the Korean Center to experience Korean people,’” Lee said while laughing.
PVAMU graduate accounting students and Vetter volunteer at the PVAMU VITA tax preparation session on Saturday, February 22, 2020, at the Korean-American Senior Citizens Association Center in Northwest Houston.
Family Affair
The consistent presence each year at the Korean Center has created family-like bonds for the preparers and their clients.
“Some Korean families, they come multiple years,” Lee said.
And both Vetter and Lee have prepared taxes for the PVAMU family and the Waller community.
“One gentleman, William Reynolds, was 90 years old. He knew where my office was. He contacted me on my phone number and would drive himself to campus to prepare his taxes,” said Lee.
Reynolds was a long-time VITA client with Lee, who had been looking forward to hearing from this year about preparing his taxes. Sadly, Reynolds and his wife, who lived in an assisted-living facility, passed away last year.
“Their son, Thomas, gave me a call when he found my contact information while putting together financial documents left by his parents,” Lee said. “In my office, I have still kept several thank-you cards they had sent me to show their appreciation of our VITA services.”
Continued Service
Lee has seven graduate accounting students who are volunteering for this year’s PVAMU VITA program at the Korean Center. Oluwole Akande, David Banks, Karen Banks, Harun Jones, Jermaine Marshall, Kendrick Papillion, and Ivy Wilson participated in the first session on February 22, which had at least 30 confirmed reservations.
Lee hopes to recruit some undergraduate accounting students for the second VITA session at the Korean Center on Saturday, March 7.
Most clients make reservations for their session, although walk-ins are welcome. Each session begins at 8 a.m. and ends around 3 p.m. The center is located at 1414 Longhorn Dr, Houston, TX 77080.
For more information about the PVAMU VITA program at the Korean Center, contact Professor Lee at brlee@pvamu.edu.
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By Michael Douglas