Students Offer Tax Services at No Cost to Community

Tax season is upon us and thankfully students will be assisting eligible community members with their tax preparation—free of charge.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is an IRS-sponsored service designed to provide low- and moderate-income families and individuals with tax preparation services. Those eligible for this program must make less than $70,000 annually.

Every Saturday from February 4 to April 6 this year, IRS-certified student volunteers from the College of Business will help qualified community members with filing their taxes both electronically or with paper at no cost.

“Community members individually save hundreds of dollars by having students prepare their tax returns for free,” Accounting Professor Jose Valdovinos said. “The community as a whole saves thousands in tax preparation fees.”

According to Valdovinos, the program is beneficial to volunteer students and community members alike. “[Student volunteers] not only obtain real life experience preparing tax returns, but also experience satisfaction that they are providing a free, valuable service to the community,” Valdovinos said.

Having in-person tax preparation support can make the process easier. The VITA program offers the best of both worlds to the surrounding community —an unbeatable price and expertise of in-person assistance.

To participate, community members can email VITA@laverne.edu for details and to schedule an appointment. Appointments run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the University of La Verne Cogley Building located at 2180 Third Street in La Verne.