SF State Beta Chi Chapter Recognized by IRS for the 2023 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program

On August 5, 2023 at the Beta Alpha Psi Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, the San Francisco State University Beta Chi student chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) received a Certificate of Recognition from the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for its notable participation in the 2023 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.  Associate Professor of Finance Snow Han and SF State students Anne Buike, Dora Harper, and Phan Su attended the BAP Annual Meeting. The SF State Beta Chi chapter was one of only 29 chapters recognized this tax season by the IRS out of 340 active Beta Alpha Psi chapters across the country.

Each year, the IRS reviews each VITA program site across the country for their tax preparation activity and volunteer hours and selects the top chapters to receive this special recognition. Such recognition signifies that the volunteer work performed by students and faculty participating in the VITA Program meets the IRS's high-level quality and ethical standards.  The local public who relies on these cost-free services can trust they are receiving accurate and reliable tax assistance from the VITA Program’s SF State site volunteers.

During the 2023 tax season, there were a total of 53 volunteers and 309 tax returns filed through the SF State VITA program. The SF State BAP chapter offered VITA services on campus and providing free tax help to the community, serving people who generally make $70,000 or less, persons with disabilities and taxpayers with limited English proficiency. Through client service, students learn tax knowledge and communication skills while providing a much-needed service to their community.  Volunteers are IRS-certified and are current students at the Lam Family College of Business (LFCoB). The SF State VITA site is sponsored by the LFCoB, the BAP student organization, and the United Way of Bay Area (UWBA).

Min Chen, Associate Professor of Accounting, and Lena Yang, Assistant Professor of Accounting, served as faculty advisors for the VITA program. As a BAP advisor, Snow Han provided support to run VITA. In the fall of 2022, Associate Professors of Accounting, Lufei Ruan and Bing Luo, also contributed to setting up the VITA program before the tax season.  Tianlan Shen was a site coordinator for VITA at SF State and managed all aspects of VITA site operations.