For the mathematically challenged, it’s that dreaded time of year again — time to fill out those tax returns.
Monday, April 15 is the deadline to file state and federal taxes.
Many University students perceive 1040 and W-2 forms to be a confusing pile of complicated paperwork, but the accounting honors fraternity, Beta Alpha Psi, offers an opportunity to make filling taxes less stressful and time-consuming.
Beta Alpha Psi will be holding its third annual free income tax preparation services for students and community members from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and again on April 6 and 13 in conference room 228 of the Chiles Business Center.
“I think that this is something the accounting profession can do to help people. For some people, filing taxes is not that simple and many students can’t afford to pay for someone to file their taxes,” Beta Alpha Psi tax preparation coordinator Ana Inclan said.
During the seminars, about 10 to 13 volunteers will help students complete their tax returns. Anyone from the community who needs help filing their tax returns can attend the event, except for small business owners and international students, because they have more complex paperwork, Beta Alpha Psi President Scott Rawitscher said.
The service not only helps fulfill Beta Alpha Psi’s chapter community service requirements but provides fraternity members the opportunity to work in the area of their interest, accounting.
“It’s a great experience and it gives us skills for the future,” Rawitscher said.
Last year the group helped nearly 250 people in a five-day period, but this year the workshops will be held only three days. Inclan said with the donation of 10 lap-top computers from a Portland business firm this year, the group hopes to serve just as many people as in past years but in a shorter time span.
Before the seminars, the accounting fraternity prepares tax preparation volunteers with a two-day class taught this year by CPAs Andrea Wenrick from Moss Adams LLP in Eugene and Aaron Gorgensen from Anderson Financial Group Inc. in Portland.
Wenrick said the classes and the seminars are great experience for college accounting students because students learn basic skills for filing straight-forward tax returns.
“I chose to help with this program because I like staying connected with the students and having them see where the accounting profession can take them,” she said.
Wenrick and Gorgensen will be monitoring the volunteers during the seminars along with five IRS members who will be checking the volunteer’s work before it’s “e-filed” or printed as well as answer any questions.
“At the classes, all of the volunteers learned how to prepare tax returns for the first time and did not feel like they knew what they were doing in the beginning,” Rawitscher said. “But after the seminar, they felt more confident and excited about what they had learned.”
Students will have the opportunity to file their taxes electronically at the workshops using the IRS’s e-file software. If students use the Internet-based e-file, they will receive a response in approximately 11 days, as opposed to a month later through traditional mail. Normally, accounting service companies charge customers $50 to send an e-file, but Beta Alpha Psi will be offering this service for free, Rawitscher said.
Those who do not want to file their completed tax forms electronically can print and mail them at a later date.