Community Voice: Thomas
Read time: 2 minutes
San Joaquin County, California
Thomas, a parent and retired county employee, was a first-time Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteer in 2025, providing free tax preparation services at a VITA site at Stanislaus State. We spoke to Thomas there, and this is what he shared about his experience.
I’ve always believed in giving back to my community. I worked for the county for 20-odd years. My mom was a nurse and my dad was a civil servant. I thought this was a great opportunity for me to be able to give something back.
If I’d known about the VITA program sooner, I would have definitely been involved before now. I’ve enjoyed it so much. I will most likely be volunteering again next year.
VITA is a crucial program.
Several of my clients had taxes done last year by a business or a provider and they’d be charged $400 for something that 1) was very simple, and 2) half the time was not done correctly. I’ve seen at least three returns from last year done by a paid professional that I don’t think were done correctly. That’s concerning because low-income people around here already don’t have much, and then they’re giving up a portion of their money to somebody that’s not even doing it right? We can step in and at least save them that $300 or $400, and that can make a big difference. Honestly for a lot of people, a couple hundred bucks makes a difference, and it’s hard to come up with that if you’ve got to pay someone to do your taxes. There’s no need for anybody to be charged $300 or $400 for the kind of work that the volunteers here are able to do fairly quickly. VITA volunteers are going to do it as well as paid preparers, if not better.
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides an enormous boost.
Most people at that income level just don’t have the ability to save that kind of money themselves. They don’t have the excess income. Some people will say, “If you pay a little you should come out at zero at the end of the year.” Well, that’s okay if you have the income to save money during the year, but if you don’t have that ability, most people tend to rely on that credit.
When my kids were younger, that EITC came in handy every year. At that point in the year there was always some big expense. You know, tires for the car, or something broke. I mean, the credit just always seemed to come in handy. I know there are questions about eliminating it and changing some of the income requirements, and I think that’s absolutely an awful idea.
Interested in becoming a VITA volunteer in California? Fill out this form or text the word VOLUNTEER to 211-211 to get started today.
