Before you sit down and file your taxes, you might want to check if you’re eligible to get your taxes done for free. With Cal Poly’s VITA program, someone is there walking you through each step to get your maximum tax return.
Accurate tax filing for participants and hands-on, real-life experience for students.
VITA (the Volunteer Assistance Tax Program) at Cal Poly offers a tax service for low-income earners each Saturday starting this weekend through the middle of March. Cal Poly accounting students file your taxes for free.
“Taxes can be complicated,” said Trisha Daughtrey, an adjunct lecturer at Cal Poly in the accounting department in her 10th year leading VITA.
“The classroom only goes so far, and this program allows us to see what our skills can do in the real world,” said Noah Rivas, a senior accounting major at Cal Poly. “That's a little nerve wracking but also really exciting. Seeing how much these credits can mean to a lot of these individuals in the community is a wholesome experience for us.”
If your first concern is that a college kid is filing your taxes, no need to fret. Checks and balances are in place to ensure accuracy.
“We have tax professionals that come here and volunteer on Saturdays, and they review the tax returns so that we know that they are legit and accurate,” said Daughtrey.
Daughtrey says they have fewer clients than they did when she started a decade ago, mainly because of free tax services like TurboTax and Tax Slayer. So, what are the advantages for people to use this service versus an online free service?
“They don't tell you the all the credits you can get. You have to be able to ask the right questions. They just assume that these free tax softwares are correct and they rely on them. Most of the time, they probably are correct, but I think a lot of taxpayers are losing a lot of money in refunds by using those free tax softwares,” said Daughtrey.
Here are the requirements to qualify for VITA:
- Income under $67,000
- No partnerships
- No depreciable assets (i.e. rental properties)
Contact VITA by email at vita@calpoly.edu or by phone at (805) 756-2667.
Here are a couple other free tax services offered in the area:
