Li Luo

CPA, Assistant Professor of Accounting & SPEC Partner & Site Coordinator of the IRS VITA/TCE Program

Li Luo is a licensed CPA in New York State and an Assistant Professor at Hartwick College. She has created an extraordinary professional development opportunity for her students that is also provides an important service to the community. Under the auspices of the Hartwick College Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and the Tax Consulting for Elderly (TCE) program, Professor Luo’s students provide free tax services to Otsego County community members.

Since 2019, IRS-certified Hartwick College students under Professor Luo’s guidance have prepared over 4,837 federal and state tax returns for clients from 45 NYS counties and those from 19 states nationwide. Professor Luo’s student-tax-preparers’ tax returns earned a 100% acceptance rate and met all ten of the IRS Quality Site Requirements, saving $827,638.00 in tax filing fees and earning more than $3.3 million in tax refunds, tax credits, and stimulus checks.

The program’s excellence has been recognized with cumulative awards of more than $85,000 in IRS VITA and TCE grants since 2021. Successful completion of the program's rigorous final exam earns students multiple IRS Tax Certificates, a prestigious professional credential. Hartwick College stands out as the only academic IRS-VITA partner nominated as a 2022 IRS National Champion of Training and the only academic curriculum embedded DEIB VITA partner. Additionally, it is one of the few academic institutions to offer this program year-round, from January 1st to December 31st.

Recent courses taught:

• Financial Accounting
• Managerial Accounting
• Introduction to Taxation
• VITA
• Taxation I
• Accounting Capstone

Recent Presentations:

• Invited seminal speaker in the IRS High School/ College VITA Symposium in 2024.
• Inclusive Service Learning at Hartwick VITA Program: A Dual-Pathway Integration Model to Promote Students’ Career Self-Efficacy. Presenting at VITA U Conference 2024, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
• Better Together: Uniting Volunteerism and Social Responsibility. Presenting at Help Yourself, Help Others. Conference on Volunteerism & Social Responsibility, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, New York

Selected publications:

• Wang, W., & Luo, L. (2020). An Integrated Framework for Managing Information Technology Security Uncertainty. European Journal of Business and Management, 12-18.
• Luo, L., & Wang, W. (2017). Disability Discrimination in Employment: Three Countries Comparison. Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization, 65, 14-18.
• Lee, Mina., & Luo, Li. (2012). The Style of Bad Business: Corruption vs. Loopholes. Asia Academy of Management Conference (AAMC) 2012, Seoul, Korea.

College service and professional affiliations:

• Member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
• Member of National Taxation Association (NTA)
• IRS SPEC Partner
• IRS SPEC 6744 Test Committee Member
• IRS SPEC Publication 4491 Committee Member
• IRS Quality Program Office (QPO) Committee Member
• Hartwick College IRS VITA & TCE Site Coordinator
• Member of Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society for Business
• Member of Beta Alpha Psi Honor Society for Accounting, Finance, and Information System
• Faculty Representative for Hartwick College BOT Audit and Compliance
• Member of Hartwick Embedded Career Task Group under FlightPath Assurance Task Force
• Member of Hartwick 403(b) Investment Committee

Credentials & Certifications:

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• IRS VITA/TCE Certificates – Advanced; Military; International; Foreign Students; and Federal Tax Law Circular 230