Students in Rancho Cucamonga provide free tax help to hundreds in their community

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (KABC) -- Tax season is upon us and if you haven't filed yet, it might be because the process can be intimidating and expensive. But, a little-known IRS program trains people to help others, and in Rancho Cucamonga, that help is coming from an unlikely place.

Destiny Linda, an 11th grader at Rancho Cucamonga High School, is one of several students who are trained volunteer income tax assistants working with instructor Chris Van Duin to provide free tax help to hundreds of taxpayers in their community.

"Clients are, the first time through, always very skeptical unless they've heard good news from their friends that have already used the program. So a lot of questions of, you know, how do we keep the materials since we're working on it during the week, how secure are things," said Van Duin.

"I'm actually surprised. One of the young ladies here is a junior in high school and she seems like she knows what she's doing so I was like, wow," said Kaiden Johnson, who is receiving help with her taxes from the program.

The VITA program has been offered through the IRS since the 1970s. At Rancho Cucamonga High School, this is the fifth year students have offered tax help for free. They're giving each taxpayer peace of mind when filing while also saving them hundreds of dollars on tax preparation.

"It's a great opportunity for some of these people that are really tight on funds to be able to save money and be able to get taxes done locally, and maybe at a better time schedule for them as well," Van Duin said.

"I just want to make sure I do it right. I'm not really very well-versed...I want to make sure everything is correct, you know, so yeah a little help is better," said Khurram Ahmed, who is also receiving tax help from the program.

All of Van Duin's accounting students will go through the IRS certification process, but Saturday mornings are 100% voluntary. Through that work, students gain real-world experience while also being placed into interactions on an adult level, with very serious questions and sensitive information.

"This is a very big eye opener that you don't need money to help people, just simply learning how to do taxes or simply going out and talking to people, you can help them just like that," said Linda.

"I love that I could help people who need it and people who don't know what to do, and I could, you know, be the link that helps them with this," said Paul Santoyo, another tax assistant volunteer.

"It's great for development, for them to be transitioning from high school into, you know, the competitive workforce, or just being a community service or community leader," said Yolanda Shepherd, who is receiving help with her taxes. "I want to see how many community leaders come out of this."