Do you heart taxes?

If not, the International Tax Team is here to help you.

The International Tax Team, whose slogan is “We heart taxes,” was created by the International Student Life Office to help international students with tax paperwork that they likely are unfamiliar with.

“The international students are required by federal law to complete some kind of tax paperwork every year, even if they don’t work. So that’s always very interesting,” said Leigh Poole, director of International Student Life. “They’re like, ‘But I’m not working,’ or, ‘I’m international, why would I pay taxes to the U.S. government?’ But it’s just kind of the way our tax code is built in the United States.”

And though international students do not have to pay taxes if they don’t work, they still must turn in the paperwork. Students who do work must fill out an additional form that requires them to pay taxes.The tax team focuses on helping international students, since other free services are available to help U.S. citizens and permanent residents with their taxes.

“The government offers software for regular taxes for regular citizens – it’s free, it’s easy to access – but the international people, there’s nothing out there,” Poole said. “So a simple tax return for an international student who maybe worked and made a couple hundred dollars is $200 to $300 at a paid company, and they might get $30 back, or they might have to pay $2.”

Babay Su, a senior economics and Chinese language and literature major from Athens, joined the International Tax Team as an accounting major, and enjoyed it so much that she decided to join several other ISL organizations.

“I did taxes and then I found out that there were more organizations that really suited my interest, and then I got involved in those, and it just kind of snowballed to where I am now,” she said.

Su is the president of the Chinese Language Society and co-president of World Ambassadors. This will be her third year working on the International Tax Team.

“I really like meeting the international students and helping them .They’re just really, really grateful that we’re able to help them by providing them this free service,” she said. “International taxes are very different from the taxes that permanent residents have to file. It’s more complicated . It just opens your eyes to realize how difficult it is for international students to live in this country.”

The International Tax Team is composed entirely of volunteers. “We have a relatively small staff and there’s about 1,200 or 1,300 international students on campus,” Poole said. “We rely very heavily on student volunteers.”

Generally, about 40 students volunteer with the organization. Volunteers must attend training sessions to learn more about international taxes. They will then spend about four to five hours a week in appointments helping international students fill out tax forms. The tax team is still looking for volunteers for this year. There will be an information meeting at 7 p.m. today in room 153 in the Miller Learning Center.

“Anyone who’s interested – it doesn’t have to be an accounting major or business major – you can just be someone who wants to meet international people, or who wants to volunteer and do something different, learn a new skill set,” Poole said. “We’re open to anyone who’s interested.”