Community Service and Experiential Learning Converge: SJSU Accounting Students and Tax-Aid Offer Crucial Tax Preparation Return Help

Every spring, something remarkable happens at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library . While students typically flock there for study sessions and research, at the beginning of each year a different kind of learning takes place as students from the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business set up shop, ready to help their community navigate the often-daunting world of income tax returns.

From February through April, a cohort of SJSU students transform a corner of the MLK Library into a free tax preparation clinic. Through Tax-Aid , a Bay Area 501(c)(3) charity committed to serving low-income individuals, these students spend their Saturdays preparing federal and California tax returns, offering a vital service to those who need it most.

The majority of the student volunteers are undergraduate accounting students enrolled in former IRS attorney and current SJSU associate professor Caroline Chen's Taxation of Individuals course. Graduate students in the MS Accounting and Analytics program also volunteer. In Chen's undergraduate Individual Tax courses alone, nearly 100 undergraduate students have had the opportunity to participate.

How the partnership flourished

The MLK Library location is particularly significant. As a joint university and community library, it offers access to both students and community members.

Tax-Aid had previously operated out of the MLK Library in the 1990s but had lost their connection. Chen's presence at SJSU provided the optimal opportunity to re-establish that link.

As a tax professional, she was well aware of Tax-Aid's mission of providing free tax services to help the community. Upon joining SJSU, the organization invited her to serve on their board of directors. She accepted in 2016 and just a few years later, in a completely voluntary role within the executive board, became its treasurer.

Her understanding of the importance of experiential learning for undergraduates laid the groundwork for the program, especially since she felt such opportunities weren't often readily available to her students. In 2022, she embedded volunteering with Tax-Aid directly into her Individual Tax course.

Instead of offering it as an extra credit option, it became an integral part of the curriculum. "Students have two choices. You can either volunteer for two tax prep sessions, or you can write me a 10-page paper," says Chen. She jokingly adds, "You and I both know that my students are going to volunteer."

Commitment to volunteerism

For Chen, this work stems from a lifelong commitment to volunteering. "My husband jokes I have a volunteering problem," she laughed, as she recalled actively participating in her children's school and volunteering activities as well as taking them with her to volunteer at the Second Harvest Food Bank and Martha's Kitchen.

She now shares this deeply ingrained value of giving back with her students, whose reflections on their experiences often reveal the profound impact of their volunteer work. One student, for instance, shared the story of assisting a woman whose sole income was social security, highlighting the often-confusing nature of tax laws and the resulting anxiety. Another student recounted assisting a young man facing financial difficulties, which emphasized the systemic challenges that low-income individuals face.

In addition, students learn to navigate difficult conversations. "You have to tell clients the one thing they don't want to hear, which is you owe tax," says Chen. But the good news is that this doesn't happen often. Students have recalled how happy they were to be able to tell clients that they were going to be receiving refunds.

"You're never going to forget that in your professional life. It's so important for undergraduates to have experiential learning, and it's so important to me to provide it to them."

Student takeaways

" My Tax-Aid experience was eye-opening and fulfilling. Being able to experience real world tax problems while helping our community was an amazing experience." - Jorge Gonzalez-Manzo, '25 Corporate Accounting and Finance

"What I found most valuable by volunteering at Tax-Aid was meeting with clients face-to-face and helping them complete such an important task. Having a resource like Tax-Aid is very beneficial to the community, and it makes me proud to know that I'm a part of it." - Hannah Mata, '25 Corporate Accounting and Finance

"Volunteering with Tax-Aid was a rewarding and fulfilling experience for me, as it allowed me to work with a dedicated team of respected professionals and fellow volunteers to provide tax services to low-income individuals. Without Tax-Aid, many of our clients would've been left navigating complex tax laws alone, or forced to pay steep tax prep costs. I'm excited to continue my work with Tax-Aid in the future, giving back to the community and making a difference where it counts." - Pasha Fallah, '25 Accounting

"Volunteering with Tax-Aid was an incredibly valuable experience for me! Taxes can be a source of intense anxiety for people, and getting to materially help our community with the knowledge I've gained in my classes was very fulfilling." - Annaleah Fraser, '25 Accounting

"I was very grateful to the [SJSU] seniors who did not just review our work on Lacerte, but also taught us some lessons about the individual tax forms. I enjoyed it so much that I plan to volunteer again for the next tax season!" - Ivy Benitez, '24 Accounting