Students vs Taxes

Anthony Tinay | Pulse

With tax season in full swing, students and families have the Volunteer Income Tax Assistant program available to help navigate this 2025 tax period.

Some students have not started filing their taxes due to the lack of awareness of resources available to them.

“I have not filed for my income tax this year,” said Aubrey Diaz, a UTRGV integrated health science freshman. 

Diaz, like most students, relies on her parents to file her taxes. She believes that resources for helping the uninitiated are around, but is not sure as to where to find them. 

“I would ask my parents how, but personal wise, I don’t know where to go,” she said. “I haven’t done research to find them, but resources would be very helpful.”

Linda Acevedo, a senior lecturer in the School of Accountancy at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley, said the Volunteer Income Tax Assistant (VITA) is an important resource. 

According to Acevedo, the VITA program allows accounting students to volunteer and prepare income taxes for lower income earning families at no cost. 

Students do not need to be an accounting major to have their taxes done by someone in the VITA program.

“We [the School of Accountancy] work together with non-profit organizations, United Way of South Texas and United Way of Cameron County,” Acevedo said. “Then we get training and certifications by the IRS in order for us to be able to provide these volunteer services.”

To Acevedo, the VITA program allows students who are not in the knowhow about tax season to be able to go to a resource where a fellow student can help out. 

“We encourage families, we encourage students to get their taxes done at any of the [VITA] sites,” she said. 

For individuals inquiring about setting up an appointment with a location that provides the VITA program or have any questions can call the VITA Direct Line at (956) 607-9030.

According to the IRS website on VITA, the general requirements to have an appointment with the VITA program are as follows:

• A household income of $65,000 or less
• A valid ID, 
• A Social Security Card for all household members
• W-2, W-2G, or 1099-R from all employees
• A copy of last year’s tax return

Deborah Gonzalez, a faculty member at the School of Accountancy, said the VITA program is a good resource that students should take advantage of. 

“If [students] can go to a volunteer income tax line and have someone else do their first tax return, if I were a student that didn’t know anything about taxes, [VITA] would be my first choice.”

UTRGV’S U Central Computer Lab is also available for students to do their taxes, either by themselves or have a VITA-certified United Way tax consultant assist them.

The Lab is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays on the Brownsville campus, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays to Thursdays on the Edinburg campus.

Students who want the option to file their income tax on their own can go to the Direct File page on the IRS website. 

The deadline for submitting income taxes is Tuesday, April 15.