HIGHER EDUCATION
Get an A+ on your taxes Paperwork. That 800-page doorstop of a textbook seemed tough until you did your taxes. In theory, a college student’s tax return shouldn’t be too difficult to file. Chances are many students aren’t making enough money to require filing — or if they do, the return is pretty simple. But what if you’re a college student and you’re overlooking something? There might be items you can claim to increase your return, or you may be overlooking payment you need to file with the IRS. We spoke to a few experts to garner sound advice for college students filing their taxes. Remember that April 15 is coming no matter how much you try to avoid it. “Just because you don’t
have to pay taxes for another [few] months doesn’t mean that the dreaded day will not come,” explains Jonathan Barsade, CEO of the sales tax record keeping and compliance company, Exactor. Barsade is also a former tax attorney at Akin Gump, an international law firm. “Ben Franklin forewarned us of the certainty of taxes. Don’t wait until it comes to bite. With some basic preparation, you can avoid the unpleasantness associated with late filings,
under-reporting and underpaying.” Ken Yoder is a tax manager at accounting firm ParenteBeard. He reminds us there are areas of income students overlook. “It’s important to remember any savings accounts or stocks they might have,” says Yoder. “Most likely they could be getting interest from their savings and dividends from stocks.” Yoder also tells us to make sure someone is claiming the tuition credit. “Parents usually
Making things easy
Filing online “In many instances, college students are doing their taxes for the first time on their own,” says Mark Grace, VP, Global Consumer, Asia Pacific and Latin America of Absolute Software. “Making taxes even
more efficient, some of the solutions now allow for easy mobile uploads of important documents. However, this is where students must take extra precaution: It is important for students to know early on in their adult life the risks associated with financial data.”
take the tuition deduction, but just make sure that someone — student or parent — takes it. [The credit] is a nice help nowadays.” Yoder also says there are different ways to file your taxes, but for most college students it shouldn’t require a professional. “There are free ways to file a simple return,” says Yoder. “IRS.gov has options, as well as most software vendors, like Turbo Tax. Once you get into whether or not to go to an H&R Block or something like that is when it gets more complicated — if you’re selling a lot of stock, for instance, or if you’re fortunate enough to be a beneficiary of a trust.” But if you’re looking at a basic W2 form, filing shouldn’t be too tough. We never said it’d be fun, though.
JULIA WEST
letters@metro.us
She never thought college was for her.
HERE’S TO SECOND THOUGHTS. See you at our next Open House. Thursday, March 20, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
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Taxes may be something you can do yourself. / COLOURBOX
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