Students normally spend their after school hours waiting to be picked up, hanging out or doing homework. Some students, though, help locals prepare their taxes. Led by Multinational Business Academy (MBA) sponsor Melissa Alvarez, members assist the community in preparing and filing taxes free of charge.

Starting Feb. 1 and ending April 16, MBA students certify through the IRS and collaborate with GECU to host tax preparation sessions Mondays and Thursdays after school from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sessions are held in the entryway hall by the counselors’ offices. The free tax prep benefits the community in many ways.

“Doing taxes for the community helps everyone get their forms sorted out,” MBA member Kimberly Balderrama said. “By doing this, we’re helping people avoid the costs of hiring someone to do their taxes and making sure they’re done right.”

Handling taxes requires certification by the IRS. Students study IRS regulations and practice filling out tax forms for different hypothetical scenarios in class, preparing for a major test to certify.

“We offer this program to our students so that they can learn the skills needed beyond high school. The students that take care of the documentation are certified by the IRS,” Alvarez said. “They have to pass a test from the IRS to be certified. It’s not easy.”

Students can obtain two different certifications: basic and advanced. Basic certification prepares the student for standard tax prep. Advanced covers a myriad of specific Although the basic certification test and practice was used as a grade in class, preparing taxes is volunteer work. Community service hours aren’t the only reward students received.

“Last year, GECU gave each of us gift baskets and two free tickets to a Chihuahuas game. At the game, we were called down to the field to be recognized by everyone for our hard work,” former MBA member Lina Duchene said.

Tax prep sessions have been hosted for the past three years and there’s little sign of the program stopping. However, tax preparation is only one part of the MBA curriculum.

“Most of us signed up to do taxes whenever we had the time,” junior member Eduardo Garcia said. “It wasn’t mandatory but we did anyways. MBA teaches us a lot. I’m glad I joined.”