How Karen’s Tax Season was Stress-Free with VITA

Karen, a local to the North State and two time VITA tax preparation client, is used to being independent. “I’ve never been in a position where I needed to ask for a ‘handout,’” she said. But in recent years, paying $250 for tax preparation services became too much. “I was putting it on a VISA and struggling to pay it off.” Thankfully, a friend told her about United Way of Northern California’s (UWNC) free tax preparation program, VITA, and she reached out.

“It felt embarrassing but they didn’t make me feel embarrassed at all. I just really appreciated all the assistance that I got. It was fantastic.” The first year Karen used the VITA service, she interacted with a number of the UWNC staff in person. “Everyone was very patient and helpful. They made the process as simple as possible.” When covid-19 forced services like VITA to go virtual the following year, Karen was initially uncertain how that would go without being “tech savvy.” 

During the process, Karen made an error that required her documents be reprocessed. “It was difficult because of covid-19,” she said. “[But], the online service went really smoothly. Everybody was so nice.” The VITA team took care of everything and made sure everything was in order for Karen to receive her maximum refund. Karen looks forward to using the VITA service again next year if she qualifies “because it was such a great experience and everyone was so kind.”

If you are still in need of assistance with your taxes or if you have questions about UWNC’s free tax preparation services, call our office at 530.241.7521. We look forward to serving you!