Carter Killin/ Daily Emerald

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The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program offers Lane County residents and UO students assistance with completing their tax returns.
Developed by Beta Alpha Psi, which is UO’s honor organization for finance, accounting and information services, VITA operates on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service and is free to those who are able to receive the program.
“We’re really trying to demystify what taxes are,” Christian Tinoco, Beta Alpha Psi’s vice president of marketing, said. “It’s not that complicated but there’s a connotation surrounding taxes that people think the big, scary IRS comes to audit you.”

Jeremy Brands, the vice president of VITA, said that the program helps walk people through the process of filing taxes and aims to make taxes easier to learn and more accessible.
“While our volunteers are doing the taxes, we’ll try and talk [people] through it to help them understand exactly what we’re doing,” Brands said. “The different income types and what we’re putting in to get them their refund and then just walk them through different deductions and credits they could possibly get.”
VITA holds its information and tax services for UO students and Eugene and Springfield residents every Saturday until April 15, surrounding tax season.
The lineage of VITA dates back 20 years but was reintroduced in 2021 by Jeffrey Van Horn after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Lopez.
Community service requirements are in place for anyone who wants to volunteer for VITA to help with skill-building and community work as well as getting preparation done before tax day, according to Brands.
“When it comes to the students, we’re trying to show the value proposition of the gain that they would get from joining an organization like ours,” Lopez said. “When it comes to the community, [it involves] being able to reach out to local sources and posting on Reddit, Nextdoor and places where I know I can reach the community to advertise.”
Being a part of VITA is open to everyone, Lopez said.
“We are open to everyone regardless of major and regardless of class,” Lopez said. “We will train you up, we will help you and provide you the skills necessary to [volunteer] and you’re more than welcome to do that.”
Lane County resident Cory Little has been using VITA’s resources for four years now and feels confident in its ability to do the best job possible.
“We were paying 200 plus bucks for H&R Block,” Little said. “That was something that I really didn’t want to have to pay because we were having money garnished so we weren’t even getting our tax refund.”
According to Little, he discovered VITA through a broadcast by KEZI and praised it for its professionalism and work ethic.
“They’re the best professionals,” Little said. “They’re equal to any other resource out there in my book and I would recommend them to anyone who doesn’t want to have to go through paying a lot of money to have your taxes done. In today’s economy, it’s vital.”
VITA has become a reliable source for information and assistance in taxes and financial questions around the community, Brands said.
“I’ve seen people come in and say, ‘We use this service every year and this is what we rely on to get our taxes done,’” Brands said. “It was really good to get that feedback and know that we’ve become a staple for a lot of people in the community.”