2017 Marks 25 Years for VITA Tax Helpers

Cal Poly accounting students are celebrated a silver anniversary this year: 2017 marks the 25th consecutive year that Orfalea College of Business students have prepared tax returns for area residents.
The students worked in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria through April 1.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offers free tax help to people who generally make no more than $54,000, persons with disabilities and limited English speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns. The program was founded by the IRS in 1969, but was significantly strengthened a few years later thanks to accountant Gary Iskowitz who recognized a “growing problem” with questionable tax preparers “scamming low-income people.” In 1971, he trained a group of California State University at Northridge students who agreed to “go into the community to do free tax returns for low-income residents. People lined up around the block waiting for us,” Iskowitz told the Journal of Accountancy.
According to Cal Poly Spokesman Jay Thompson, “The first VITA clinic at Cal Poly was in 1972, and clinics were held off and on over the next 20 years until becoming an annual endeavor in 1992. Since 2005, Orfalea College of Business students have prepared nearly 9,000 returns, assisting about 750 San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara county residents annually. Student volunteers staff on-campus VITA clinics (on the third floor of the Business Building) and in partnership with the United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County in clinics in Santa Maria.”
The IRS-certified students prepare returns using such basic forms as 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, 540, 540A, 540EZ and some supporting forms; Orfalea College of Business faculty and volunteer CPAs review and file the returns.
This year’s VITA program was led by Cal Poly faculty members Trisha Anderson and Catherine “Michelle” Curry of San Luis Obispo-based Radakovich, Shaw & Blythe LLP, Certified Public Accountants.