VITA in a marketing research course: It’s not just for accounting students anymore

The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program provides free income tax preparation and filing services for low- and moderate-income households. Accounting students from universities across the U.S. have provided these services for many years. A partnership has been in place for five years between VITA and the marketing research course at a university in which marketing students provide volunteer services supporting the research objectives of the local VITA program, which align with the course objectives. This paper provides the supporting theory, affirmative results, and pedagogical details to implement this experiential service-learning project, including adaptations during a pandemic and for similar course projects.