by Gabriela Geselowitz

by Gabriela Geselowitz

To a working artist, tax season can be a nightmare, a labyrinth of documents from a year of many jobs on a variety of forms in multiple industries, even in different states or countries. But over the past five decades, thousands of Equity and SAG-AFTRA members have slept better knowing that their tax returns and audits are watertight. 2026 marks the 50^th anniversary of the union's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, saving headaches – and very often money – for actors and stage managers.

In 1976, VITA was only a few years old, launched in the wake of the 1969 Tax Reform Act, with the first public program opening its doors in 1971 at California State University, Northridge. The purpose of VITA was to support lower-income taxpayers and foster community service, and Equity Eastern Principal Councilor Michael Enserro saw it as a natural fit for Equity. Not only would many members qualify to receive the service, but they would especially benefit from their peers who had a knowledge of the industry and could understand their unique financial challenges as working artists. So, he connected with the IRS about bringing the program to the union. That first year, over 80 Equity members, led by Enserro and his fellow Eastern principal councilors Conard Fowkes and Schorling Schneider, took the first step of signing up for a three-day course teaching them the finer points of filing tax returns.

In the beginning, VITA volunteers were all councilors – and all men. Its second year, VITA's longest-serving (and first female) volunteer, Mary Lou Westerfield, joined the team. Westerfield was a new councilor, but she would go on to not only become the union's 2^nd vice president but eventually work there as executive staff as well.

At first, VITA felt like a well-kept secret.

"Those of us who were volunteering in that second year would go out on tour and get that job and tell people, 'You know, you can come to Equity and have your taxes done,'" recalled Westerfield. "It was a lot of word of mouth, initially."

Picking Up Steam

Over the next couple of years, the program gained momentum, and by 1978, a small but dedicated team of coffee-fueled volunteers were helping Equity members get through tax season. The union started putting the word out more actively.

VITA's second-longest-serving (and second female) volunteer is now Equity's Secretary-Treasurer, Sandra Karas, who also serves as VITA's tax director. She was a new member in 1978 when she went to the IRS Reading Room in Manhattan with questions about her tax returns.

Karas's involvement in VITA also opened her eyes to ways the tax code unfairly penalized artists. For example, earnings on Equity contracts are reported to the IRS on the W2 form, and since that is typically associated with full-time employment, it precludes deductions for work expenses. However, most theatre artists have to incur a lot of costs to even get a job, from headshots to representation. In 1984, Karas approached Equity Executive Director Alan Eisenberg with a memorandum about the problem, setting into motion the advocacy that would create the Qualified Performing Artists deduction, passed in 1986. (Unfortunately, it was not indexed for inflation, and for years Equity and other performing arts unions and employers have been advocating for its update via the Performing Artists Tax Parity Act.) In the meantime, Karas kept returning to VITA, year after year.

In its earliest days, calling VITA headquarters an office was generous; it was a large janitor's closet across from the Council Room. Eventually, a real office in the building opened up, but it was unfurnished. VITA volunteers took the doors off the hinges and laid them across radiator covers as a makeshift desk.

Other improvements came over the years: real furniture, of course, and donated calculators from Canon that let users print while they typed. Eventually came computers and tax software, leading to greater speed and accuracy in returns (although Equity VITA volunteers have always prided themselves on their accuracy).

While many Equity members have tales of frustrating tax filing experiences, Gordon Stanley's bordered on a horror story.

"For a few years after I moved to New York in 1977, I went to an accountant that had been recommended to me and he was OK," he said. Then one day, Stanley opened the New York Times and was surprised to see his accountant in it.

"He had been indicted for stealing money from his soap star clients," he said. "Here I was signing a legal document I didn't understand that had been prepared by a criminal. What could possibly go wrong?

"Pretty shortly thereafter I got a notice from the IRS pointing out he had made several mistakes in one of my tax returns."

That brought Stanley to VITA, where Fowkes did his return, eventually drafting him to volunteer. For the last couple of years, Stanley has served as site coordinator, making sure that shifts are covered and that the program is in compliance with the IRS. And that requires a tight ship; while virtual signups for appointments ended the lines of five hundred people outside Equity offices at 6 a.m. on the first day of VITA season, and free or cheap tax software has allowed for more members to file on their own, VITA continues to file thousands of returns a year. Demand is plentiful, but supply of volunteers is always a push.

Volunteering Now

Equity member Kyle Cameron didn't need the push, nor had he used VITA's services before volunteering. As a Canadian, he had only been filing taxes in the States for a few years when he heard VITA was looking for fresh faces, but he is a big believer in volunteering and was looking for a new way to donate his time.

"I just thought, I'm good with numbers and details," he said. "I don't know very much about money, but I'm good at those fundamental components."

And while VITA is still going strong, the makeup of the volunteers in the New York office has changed over the last decade or so. It is easier to find people to operate the phone – you do have to pass a test, albeit a short one. But now, it is more likely for tax preparers to come from outside the theatre industry, such as tax attorneys who come by for a year or two to do pro bono work. And many of the Equity volunteers have been at it for decades, which means they tend to be older. It's a tight-knit crew that shares tax tips and lifelong friendships.

"It's not a huge time commitment, there are good snacks, there's a surprising amount of laughs in the room, nice folks and a lovely way to take care of your fellow entertainment community folks who need assistance with a difficult task," said Cameron. "And there's tons of support all along the way."

Current VITA volunteers cannot promise, of course, that volunteering will be good for an Equity member's career, but Enserro coined the term the "VITA blessing" – in several cases, no sooner would actors or stage managers make a commitment to VITA than they would get a job offer that would pull them away. (It has already happened this year.)

For the self-described nerds at VITA, better understanding the tax system and the finances of theatre workers is its own reward.

Whichever side of the VITA desk you might sit, volunteers want to see members in the office, feel the sense of camaraderie of performing artists helping other artists.

"If you are feeling put off by not having the knowledge of how to do this but you're curious, just come," said Cameron. "There is such a wealth of knowledge in that room and what appears to be a really complicated process is actually simpler than you think it is." The technology, tax code and faces have largely changed, but the sense of pride and the mission have not. And the coffee is still hot.