Having trouble with your income tax return? These IRS-approved college students can help — for free

Now through April 9, about five dozen Cal State Long Beach students will provide free income tax preparation.

Clients have the option of getting support in person or online. Some prefer to sit alongside student volunteers as they make their way through their paperwork. Other clients drop off their documents, then come back for their returns after class.

The service is open to people who earned $67,000 or less in 2024, and geared at students, people over 65, nonresidents and people with limited English proficiency.

Though the students are volunteers, this operation is far from beginner, said Sudha Krishnan, the accountancy department chair and faculty supervisor. “These guys have to be experts,” she said.

Cal State Long Beach’s IRS-administered Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program requires students to undergo multiple days of training. They’re also required to pass at least four exams.

Due to their training, Krishnan said, the volunteers are well-versed in the types of deductions that might be available to students and other clients.

“They know the right questions to ask,” she said.

Because the campus is very diverse, she added, students are able to provide support in multiple languages, including Hindi, Khmer, Mandarin, Spanish and Tagalog.

How does the program keep my tax information safe?

Marvin Madamba, a senior accounting major, volunteered with VITA last year and helped file about 40 tax returns. This year, he’s back as a co-coordinator — a volunteer with prior knowledge who helps ensure everything on the tax forms is up to snuff. Every shift has 2 to 4 coordinators.

During the review process, “we go from the top to bottom,” Madamba added. “Our role is to reduce the amount of time a client has to spend filing taxes. We don't want them to come back.”

Sara Nava, a first-time volunteer, has helped more than 20 people file their tax returns this season.

When Nava completed the first return, she was a bit nervous. “I didn't want to get anything incorrect,” she said.

Nava appreciates having experienced reviewers on site and was pleased to report that the vast majority of her clients are getting refunds.

“Some of them are surprised that their refunds are so high,” Nava said. “But we always make sure the refund is correct. [The co-coordinators] verify our work. We don't just complete the return and move on.”

The VITA program is located in the computer lab of Cal State Long Beach's College of Business.

(

Julia Barajas

/

LAist

)

To keep personal data secure, volunteers are barred from preparing returns on their personal laptops.

“We provide Chromebooks, and we have computers in the lab. And those are the only two places where they can file the returns,” Krishnan said.

Every night, all returns are automatically deleted from those computers. The volunteers also shred copies of any documents.

Every tax season, she added, an IRS liaison audits the site.

How the program helps students make decisions about their future

The student volunteers partake in VITA as part of a course that helps them work toward completing the required hours to become a Certified Public Accountant.

Through this experiential learning, Krishnan said, students also develop soft skills — such as how to tactfully deliver bad news when a refund is less than expected.

Doris Huang, a co-coordinator who graduates in May, said the hands-on part of the course was more fulfilling than most other lecture-based classes.

Currently, she helps prepare at least 30 returns per week. That number is likely to skyrocket in the coming days, she said, as the traditional April 15 deadline approaches. (People who live or have a business in L.A. County have until Oct. 15 to file their tax returns due to the recent wildfires.)

Huang said she and the volunteers see a good mix of clients, including recent alumni who had a positive experience with VITA when they were undergrads. Clients are encouraged to make an appointment, but the program also welcomes walk-ins. She and the other volunteers complete most tax returns in under two hours.

“A big question for students is always: ‘Do you want to go into tax or audit accounting?’” Madamba said. “The VITA experience made the decision clear for me.”

“I've never seen a student go: ‘I don't mind taxes,’” Krishnan said. “They either decide they really love taxes, or they hate them.”