In May 2025, Boise State accountancy student Lindsey Korson and Kathy Hurley, a senior lecturer of accountancy, presented at the national VITA U conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The conference is a place for faculty members who participate in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program to come together and share their research and scholarship. The conference encourages presentations of scholarly work focusing on any aspect of university or college-affiliated VITA programs, including student submissions.
Korson and Hurley presented their research on the effects of Name, Image, Likeness, or NIL, payments for student athletes and how VITA can be a resource to college athletics departments. Korson was an undergraduate accountancy student when she submitted the proposal and has since graduated and started her master’s in accountancy at Boise State.
“Kathy was approached by some community members and the Boise State athletic department about VITA helping out the student athletes. From there, she informed me about the research opportunity at the VITA conference and I ran with it,” Korson said. “Kathy is the leader of the VITA group, any and all credit goes to her firstly. I was the mastermind behind the presentation, but Kathy was the technical knowledge.”
Their presentation covered ensuring that student athletes are within the income and demographic limits of VITA and making sure that outreach is within the allowable services of the NCAA. Korson and Hurley found that some student athlete NIL income forms are outside scope for VITA preparers. They plan on petitioning the IRS to remove that scope limitation, which would allow VITA programs to assist those college athletes with free tax filing services and financial education. This assistance can help athletes ensure they are complying with tax laws. Korson and Hurley’s research is ongoing, since the court settlement on revenue sharing has yet to be approved, but NIL payments to athletes are currently allowed.
“I applaud Lindsey for running with an idea and submitting the proposal,” Hurley said. “Even though we were the final presentation of the conference, we addressed a packed room because the topic is timely and university VITA administrators are interested in how we can help student-athletes with tax preparation services and financial literacy.”