LA County residents eligible for tax services through VITA program
By Lindsey Lam, February 17, 2026
Cal Poly Pomona accounting students are helping qualifying Los Angeles County residents complete their tax forms for the 2026 tax season, free of charge.
In a joint program between CPP’s College of Business Administration and the IRS called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, licensed accounting students are volunteering to help residents of LA County complete their taxes. This program comes in time for the 2026 tax season, with individual income tax forms due April 15.
Taxpayers with a gross income less than $67,000 qualify for VITA services. There is no income limit for active-duty or veteran taxpayers.
Accounting Professor Sharyn Fisk, who directs CPP’s VITA program, encourages CPP students, international students and student-athletes earning name image and likeness income to use VITA, especially if they are confused or worried about reporting their income.
As a former tax attorney and VITA volunteer, Fisk supervises the student volunteers and ensures the program follows IRS guidelines. She said one of the most rewarding aspects of directing the program is seeing once-nervous students thrive in their work with VITA.
“To see the students at the end of the program just having that confidence of getting somebody in, asking those questions, knowing how to fill out that return, confident that it’s correct, advising people, explaining,” Fisk said. “It’s just a great transformation.”
The student volunteers consist of CPP juniors, seniors and recent alumni who passed the IRS volunteer exam to service clients. Students learn how to prepare tax forms in Taxation and can progress to Supervisory Taxation to become supervisors for the program.
During the tax sessions, students help clients fill out the forms before an on-site IRS agent reviews the returns for accuracy.
Student volunteer Michelle Wu noted the San Gabriel locations are often less busy and recommended taxpayers start their tax returns earlier since the program gets busier closer to the tax due date.
Wu has spent much of her undergraduate career volunteering in VITA programs. Now as a site coordinator for the San Gabriel branch of CPP’s VITA, Wu regularly coordinates with CPP’s accounting department to manage printers, papers, pens and paperwork for the program, along with setting up the accounts for volunteers and reserving rooms in the libraries for the sessions.
Wu credits VITA for helping her find a career pathway in tax preparation.
“Being able to do the return helped me a lot because I can kind of visually see if this is something I want to do as a career pathway 20 years down the line,” Wu said. “And for me, I really enjoyed it.”
Recent alumna Anna Knaus also credits VITA for giving her the hands-on experience needed to succeed in the accounting field. Knaus said volunteering in VITA alongside taking the tax class helped her understand the coursework better through hands-on experience.
Now an intern at CliftonLarsonAllen, Knaus has come back to volunteer for VITA for the 2026 spring semester. Knaus helps clients at the Pomona Public Library and is also the site coordinator for the Pomona branch of CPP’s VITA.
Knaus said the feeling of helping someone who benefits greatly from a free service helps her stay focused and motivated during busy sessions. As the Pomona branch is more popular than the San Gabriel one, Knaus can see up to seven clients in a single session.
CPP, along with several other California State Universities including Fullerton, Los Angeles, Long Beach and Northridge, host an annual VITA site. This experience allows students across the system to get hands-on experiences while also gaining academic credit.
CPP has participated in VITA for 11 years, and since then, volunteer students have prepared more than 4,000 tax returns.
The final VITA session date for the 2026 tax season is scheduled for Saturday, April 11. Walk-ins are welcome.
Feature image courtesy of Lindsey Lam
