In the spring 2017 semester, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) hosted an on-campus Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Through a series of discussions with other department faculty, it was decided to offer the experience as an internship for accounting students who had completed the federal income tax course in our accounting curriculum. Although one could easily see the benefits of VITA for taxpayers who received the service, I personally had no idea what a blessing the experience would be, nor did I recognize the positive ripple effects it would have for students, alumni and employers. This article will explain what the VITA program is and the process to develop a VITA site.

L'innovation est aujourd'hui l'une des variables essentielles de la croissance économique et de l'emploi. Toutefois, son financement est complexe. Ce qui justifie l'intervention des pouvoirs publics. Ainsi en France, la puissance publique dispose de deux outils principaux pour inciter les entreprises à augmenter leurs dépenses de R&D, les aides directes et apparentées et les incitations fiscales. Toutefois, c'est une mesure d'aide fiscale, le crédit d'impôt recherche (CIR), qui constitue le dispositif majeur de soutien à l'innovation en France. Puissant instrument d'encouragement à la R&D depuis 1983, il est devenu depuis sa dernière grande réforme, en 2008, le dispositif incitatif le plus prisé des entreprises et la deuxième dépense de l'État. Une sortie de l'anonymat suivie d'une entrée dans la polémique car en raison de son poids de plus en plus prégnant dans l'économie française, le CIR soulève plusieurs interrogations. La plus partagée concerne naturellement la réalité de son efficacité, opposant partisans et détracteurs de la mesure. Mais celle-ci appelle pourtant d'autres questions et d'autres observations. Car s'il semble partagé que ce crédit présente de nombreux avantages pour ses bénéficiaires, la sécurité fiscale de ceux-là apparaît néanmoins fragile. Puis, le choix même de la dépense fiscale comme mesure de soutien interpelle, tant s'agissant de son opportunité réelle dans l'ordre interne que de son articulation avec la réglementation européenne des aides d'État. Ce qui pourrait justifier une adaptation du mécanisme à partir des modalités d'un autre dispositif opérant dans un autre secteur et ne souffrant pas à ce jour des mêmes carences que le CIR. / Today, innovation is one of the essential variables of the growth of the economy and employment. However, its financing is complex. This justifies the intervention of public authorities. In France, the public powers therefore have two main tools for encouraging companies to increase their R&D expenses, direct aids (and similar) and tax incentives. However, the main mechanism in support of innovation in France is a fiscal aid measure, namely the research tax credit. A powerful instrument for encouraging R&D since 1983, it has become, since its last major reform in 2008, the preferred incentive measure of companies and, at the same time, the State's second leading expenditure. A departure from anonymity followed by a step into controversy, since due to its increasing weight within the French economy, the research tax credit is prompting many questions. The most widely-shared question naturally relates to the reality of its efficiency, with supporters and detractors in equal measure. But this mechanism also elicits other questions and other observations. Since while it seems to be agreed that this credit offers many advantages for its beneficiaries, the fiscal security of the latter nevertheless appears to be fragile. Moreover, the very choice of a fiscal expenditure as a support measure is of concern, both with regard to its actual advisability within the internal order and in terms of its linkage with the European regulations relative to State aid. This could justify an adaptation of the mechanism on the basis of the provisions of another system used in another sector, but that does not currently have the same deficiencies as the research tax credit.