Porterville Unified School District students want to make sure the public knows that there are only two Saturdays left to take advantage of free tax preparation by Tulare County’s VITA — Volunteer Income Tax Assistance — program.
The students — Porterville High School senior Isabelle Bollinger, and juniors Eduardo Vargas and Adriana Gutierrez — along with one Harmony Magnet Academy student, are among the numerous volunteers assisting family households with incomes of $50,000 or less in preparing and electronically filing their federal and state income tax returns.
“I feel good giving back to the community and help them with their financial situation. It makes their day,” Bollinger said.
Even those who might end up owing money, it is still best to know in advance, and the clients appreciate the help, Gutierrez added.
“We explain everything to them. We tell them step-by-step everything we do and give them a print out at the end,” Vargas said.
The free service continues from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and again on April 13 at CSET, at the Employment Connection, 1061 W. Henderson Ave.
Taxpayers from the Porterville area, with VITA’s help, received millions of dollars in returns, with a good percentage of it returned to local taxpayers and to the local economy.
Gutierrez, who serves as a greeter and a tax preparer, said she greets people and confirms that they have all of the necessary paperwork and documents, from W-2 forms and social security card to unemployment and retirement papers, before asking them to sit and wait — potentially for hours.
Each year, CSET visits the Porterville Academy of Business and asks for volunteers for the tax preparation, said Michele Halopoff, PAB instructor.
The students volunteer every Saturday in January to train at the Porterville CSET office — learning the system and business, before offering the free tax-preparation service every Saturday through April 15 to people of low income families, she said.
“This is such a benefit for the community and it opens so many opportunities for the students — offering real life applications and getting trained in something they can fall back on in the future,” Halopoff said. “It also teaches them responsibility and commitment and teaches them on how people depend on them.”
Porterville High School Principal Steve Graybehl praised the program and the students.
“I’ve been aware we’ve been doing this for a multitude of years,” Graybehl said. “It’s a great service to the community and a great learning experience for our students. I am thankful for all the sponsors who help make it possible.”
Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1045. Follow her on Twitter @Avila_recorder.