With the tax deadline on Monday, many students are doing their own taxes for the first time.
“I, guess, waited to the limit,” said William Soto as he waited in the lobby of H&R Block for his appointment. He was one of many to wait until the last minute to file his tax returns. “I usually don’t wait this late, usually you know the beginning of April”
While it’s become fairly routine for Soto to file his taxes year after year, for some students, it’s their first time.
“It’s been a long couple of months,” said Cody Kahrs, an accounting student who works for Simplified Tax in Lansing. “What I see a lot with students, they don’t know what to bring with them, and they don’t know what documents matter, what they should have with them, what is really relevant.”
Typically students need to complete a 1098-T form and bring in W2 statements from their jobs. “You can miss out on a couple thousand dollars if you miss the education credits, so just have someone double check it and make sure everything’s in order,” Kahrs said.
Deloris Lodge, the manager of H&R Block in Lansing says that it’s easier to have a professional do it than to do it yourself. She works with a lot of students and said “we need to know if you are a dependent, if your parents claim you, or if you’re claiming yourself, that’s a lot of confusion for a lot of students.”
The good news for procrastinating students is that there are plenty of places to go near campus for help.