Financial Literacy in Action: Business Librarian and Accounting Professors Partner for Free Tax Workshops
This past spring semester, Business and Economics Librarian Summer Peng collaborated with four accounting faculty on the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA). This program trains ACCT 4210D, ACCT 5210D, and other business students to complete actual income tax returns. The students in these courses provided tax form preparation services to local community members with the assistance of mentors and professors during the busy tax season.
“The participants are accounting students getting real-world experience in the community,” Peng commented. “Teaching students and connecting their book knowledge to real life scenarios is always really rewarding as an instructor.”
From January 27 to April 15, as an embedded librarian, Peng participated on Saturdays. She supported students with taxation resources, educated and advised them on preparing tax returns, provided guidance on locating eligible tax credits and deductions, answered resource-related questions, and assisted with various tax scenarios. She obtained IRS certification in intake/interview, standards of conduct, advanced taxation, and site coordination.
“I provide information to community members about understanding the different filing statuses such as single, married filing jointly, head of household, and the like, and how they affect tax rates and eligibility for deductions and credits,” Peng commented about the interactions with the community. “Tax policies can be difficult to understand, and sometimes it's much more beneficial for the person seeking help to get in-person advice rather than having to read a lot of policies and forms.”
Peng's involvement extended to multiple sites, including the Cal State LA campus and six off-campus locations. Her higher level of participation offered a practical opportunity to deepen her understanding of her liaison area, engage directly in student learning experiences, develop career-focused materials, and foster stronger relationships with CBE faculty and students.
In Spring 2024, the program successfully completed 2,303 tax returns for low- and moderate-income families, highlighting the significant impact of librarian-faculty collaboration on student success and community service.
“We're sharing not just tax information but other benefits with the community clients as well, such as CalFresh. I would see, based on their situations, whether or not they were taking advantage of the many public programs that could be available to them,” Peng said. “Our students providing financial literacy education really helped the community, and I saw the direct benefit of that.”