Cal Poly offers free income tax assistance in San Luis Obispo County

February 5, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo is offering free tax help on campus through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program on Saturdays through March 15.

VITA offers free tax help to qualifying taxpayers with $70,000 or less of gross income. VITA also will hold two off-campus locations in Oceano and Santa Maria from Feb. 8 through March 15.

Tax filing for businesses and individuals started Jan. 15 and Jan. 27, respectively, and the deadline is Saturday, April 15.

Tax help is available on Saturdays from Feb. 1 through March 15, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the third floor of the Cal Poly Business Building, near California Boulevard.

 


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How is this exclusive service funded? Even if much of the work is done by student volunteers, they had better have professional supervision which almost certainly comes at a cost. Also, what happens when they make a mistake? Are the supervisors insured for professional liability? Who pays for insurance, defense, settlements? I already know the answers. The taxpayers foot the bill for everything.


Not exclusive. Available to any taxpayer who meets the income threshold. Funded b just like Air Force One, the US Army, President Trump’s staff, and Yosemite Park, by all of us for a necessary service, tax collection.

No cost on the supervision. Done by volunteers, principally retired CPAs, business people, teachers etc.

Mistakes are highly unlikely as the returns are so simple that it’s just inputting numbers to the computer and returns are checked by another qualified (IRS tested) volunteer before sent to the IRS.

Supervisors are indemnified if the return is “in scope” (trained and allowed to prepare by the IRS) so there is no professional liability. And these returns are so simple (a W-2, a 1099-R, or 1099-INT/DIV etc). Simple Simple Simple.

You’re talking about professional E&O insurance which is not needed because there is no professional liability. Tax Court defense and settlements are not even a risk factor. These returns are so simple that those kind of conflicts will never come up. Simple returns, remember. Taxpayers are not paying for everything. The volunteers are not paid and they are the ones putting in the time to help others through our tax system. Hope this clarifies for you.


“Not exclusive. Available to any taxpayer who meets the…” I guess exclusive means something different to you than to me. Dictionary says its antonym is “inclusive” making it the opposite of the “I” in “DEI”. I am not really concerned about this specific program. I was just using it as an example of how the taxpayers get stuck again for any expense involved.


In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes.


Just gonna leave that there and watch as the sheep down vote and try to defend it all while criticizing and attempting to kick out tax paying “illegal immigrants” that contributed 95 billion in a single year.