Those who have not filed their taxes can pay a visit to the College of Business Administration, where accounting students are processing tax returns for free.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance is a program sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service that allows volunteers to provide income tax assistance to individuals who may not have easy access to such assistance, according to a university press release.
Supervised by accounting professor Sudha Krishnan, accounting majors volunteer through VITA to offer tax return assistance to students, international students and off-campus community members, according to the press release.
VITA co-coordinator Jennifer Formeloza said there was a need for the program in the area.
“There was just a need in the community to do this type of service,” Formeloza said. “[It is] mostly catered to low- to moderate-income tax payers.”
Although the VITA program has been available to students and the community for more than 30 years, Formeloza said people are still unaware of it.
She said many elderly people have been utilizing the services, but she would like to see a larger turnout of students.
This year, VITA has 60 volunteers on campus who are IRS-certified to prepare and e-file basic income tax returns and foreign student tax returns, said Janet Plaza, a VITA volunteer and accounting major.
She said those interested in filing their returns through VITA need to have some form of government identification, such as a California Driver’s License or social security card, along with other documents necessary to file the return, such as a W-2 and 1098-T.
The student volunteers, however, can only offer assistance to those who earned $51,567 or less in 2013.
Plaza said this is her first year volunteering for VITA, and on average, she sees four to five people filing their taxes during her two-hour shift, but she expects the number of visitors to increase.
“Especially [getting] closer to tax season, we’re [going to] be really busy,” Plaza said.
Psychology major Amanda Aknin said she has been filing her taxes with VITA for three years.
“A lot of us don’t know how to do our own taxes or where to go get our taxes done,” Aknin said. “I think it’s the easiest and cheapest way of getting your taxes done as a student.”
Before using VITA’s services, Aknin said she would pay $50 to have her taxes filed at H&R Block. She said the 30-minute VITA service is convenient because she has lived on or near campus for the past few years.
VITA is also available in other schools and career centers, Formeloza said.
“The only thing that really differentiates our site from other sites is that we’re open throughout the week,” she said.
VITA services are offered Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in CBA, Room 237. The program is available through March 28.