Beta Alpha Psi and Accounting Society are offering free tax preparations available for all residents and nonresidents, student or not, with an income under $49,000.
“VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) is a program run by the IRS,” said Nathan Nguyen, a co-coordinator of the Cal State Long Beach portion of the program. The free tax preparations started Jan. 31 and will be available until March 25. Other off-campus sites will be open longer and can be found at vita-volunteers.org.
Tax filers can choose to leave their information and pick it up later, or sit with a volunteer and have their taxes prepared.
Karen Kreider, another co-coordinator of the program at CSULB, said an appointment is not necessary and anyone could come in anytime. A photo ID and social security card are the required identifications needed for all filings.
“My mom’s doing her taxes here. She did them last year here too,” said Cristina Mejia, a CSULB student who came by to pick up her mother’s tax forms.
There are approximately 40 volunteers preparing tax returns, which are from Accounting 495, Special Topics. Nguyen said the students must volunteer at least four hours a week preparing taxes. Co-coordinators and coordinators contribute at least eight hours.
“It’s four Saturday classes before the semester,” Kreider said. “People from the IRS come teach us everything from how to use the TaxWise software to what things to look out for when filing people’s taxes. We have a workbook we have to complete first and we have to pass an exam with 80 percent or better before being allowed to do [tax returns].”
The students are graded on an A to F scale by the coordinator.
“They must file at least 10 residential and four nonresidential tax forms by the end of the program,” Nguyen said. The review and actual e-filing of the returns are reviewed and carried out by the co-coordinators and coordinators.
The program offers students valuable hands-on experience and will be available in the College of Business Administration computer lab Monday-Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.