CSUN VITA Clinic Co-Coordinators Cynthia Montes (right)
and Daisy Macias, pictured here before the clinics closed
due to COVID-19, helped lead the pivot to virtual tax services.
In March 2020, the COVID-19 lockdowns forced the California State University, Northridge VITA Clinic to shut down all tax preparation operations. By early May 2020, the program returned, powered with a new platform to continue to serve the public.
Due to the global pandemic, there has been a large need in the local community for virtual tax preparation services. To get ahead of this challenge, and with a generous $50,000 grant from Wells Fargo Bank, the leadership team at the CSUN VITA Clinic piloted a virtual VITA tax clinic in 2020 and then launched it for the 2021 tax season.
“We didn’t want to be in the position we were in last year,” said Cynthia Montes, the CSUN VITA Clinic co-coordinator. “We were forced to shut down the clinic, and more and more people, especially the elderly and those more susceptible to the virus, needed to file their taxes but had few options left.”
Along with her cocoordinator, Daisy Macias, Montes’ primary concern for the launch was safety. The virtual clinic enables taxpayers to prepare and send all their tax documents through an online, HIPPA-verified portal. Taxpayers make an appointment online or over the phone with the clinic and schedule a Zoom meeting to discuss their tax return with one of the clinic’s volunteers. Once the tax return is filed, taxpayers then receive their return electronically.
Taxpayers who don’t have access to a computer can still file their return using the “drop-off method,” where they take their tax documents to one of the local sites, for example the YMCA in Van Nuys or the Volunteers of America in Hollywood, and scan their tax documents directly into a secure server.
“Filing these returns are more important now than ever,” said Montes. “The homeless, elderly and those in low-income communities need to file their returns so they can receive their economic stimulus checks, so it’s extremely important they have access to these services.”
Montes said she didn’t realize the impact this virtual service was going to have on the community. “We started coming in 7 days a week to keep up with the demand,” said Montes. “We hope, by the end of the tax season, to file well over 6,000 returns. We’ve had some taxpayers call in to thank us for these services and those always make our day at the clinic.” The taxpayers can also thank Wells Fargo Bank for their continued visionary support of the CSUN VITA Clinic during these challenging times.