Remaining service dates set for March and April at Sun Bowl Stadium

EL PASO, Texas (March 3, 2026) – The University of Texas at El Paso is continuing its partnership with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, providing free tax preparation services this week to the Paso del Norte community while giving students valuable real-world experience.

Amanda Valenzuela, a senior accounting major in the Woody L. Hunt College of Business at The University of Texas at El Paso, works on a tax return with a member of the local community as part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program on Feb. 20, 2026, at the GECU Terrace in the UTEP Sun Bowl. During the 2026 tax season, UTEP students have prepared 2,294 returns free of charge through Project VITA.

Amanda Valenzuela, a senior accounting major in the Woody L. Hunt College of Business at The University of Texas at El Paso, works on a tax return with a member of the local community as part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program on Feb. 20, 2026, at the GECU Terrace in the UTEP Sun Bowl. During the 2026 tax season, UTEP students have prepared 2,294 returns free of charge through Project VITA.

Led by Sarah Robertson, an associate professor of accounting the Woody L. Hunt College of Business, the UTEP VITA site operates as an independent study course in which primarily accounting students earn academic credit while becoming Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-certified tax preparers. This spring, 26 UTEP students are serving the community, each completing at least 30 volunteer hours to earn certification.

Funded through an IRS grant and administered locally by GECU, Project VITA offers accurate, secure tax preparation at no cost, protecting taxpayers from predatory practices and returning millions of dollars to the local economy.

During the 2026 tax season alone, UTEP students have prepared 2,294 returns through Project VITA.

UTEP’s Sun Bowl Stadium remains the only VITA site in El Paso certified to assist non-resident foreign scholars, including international students and researchers who cannot use standard tax software. The final two service dates of the season, April 3 and 10, will focus on serving UTEP’s international Miner community.

The site has already completed six service dates this season. Remaining service dates at the GECU Terrace at the UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium are:


March 6, 2026
April 3, 2026 (International students and faculty only)
April 10, 2026 (International students and faculty only)

Hours: 1–4 p.m.
Location: GECU Terrace, UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium, 2701 Sun Bowl Dr., 3rd Floor, El Paso, TX 79902

For more information, visit freetaxeselpaso.org/locations.

Last Updated on March 03, 2026 at 12:00 AM | Originally published March 03, 2026

By MC Staff
UTEP Marketing and Communications