Tax paperwork relief offered

By: ALEXIS GARROBO

Posted: 4/4/07

Filing taxes lands somewhere on the to-do list between finishing term papers and cleaning out the drain in the kitchen sink.

Unlike the term papers, income taxes cannot be turned in late.

Even last minute flyers who know where to look can get help filing income taxes this year before the April 17 deadline.

On and off campus, institutions offer several free services to help tax payers work through the maze of paperwork.

The Peer Financial Counseling Marketing team, affiliated with the Financial Aid Office, will offer free pizza and tax help today.

"We realized that a lot of people are working for the first time and filing taxes for the first time so have a lot of questions," Steven Connors, a junior from Alpharetta, said.

The information session will be held today at 6 p.m. in Sanford Hall room 213. Student counselors and a staff coordinator will cover scenarios and give basics about filing 1040EZ and Georgia tax forms.

At the University, students can gather federal and Georgia income tax forms to file hard copy income tax returns from the main library and Student Learning Center.

For those wishing to file quickly via the Internet, the Financial Aid office Web site offers a link to free electronic tax filing.

Students wishing to avoid processing charges from software such as Turbotax can file their taxes electronically at www.turbotax.intuit.com/.

International students also have the option of attending coffee hour help sessions at the Memorial Hall Ballroom.

The International Student Life office hosts a weekly coffee hour at which international students may receive tax aid. The walk-in help is offered every Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Memorial Hall Ballroom.

The help sessions hosted by International Student Life office are only for international students.

"All international students have to file taxes even if they didn't earn. There are different rules concerning international people and they need to seek tax help," said Jackie Minus, administrative assistant at the International Student Life office.

The University School of Law held tax help sessions in previous years, but the sessions are no longer conducted by the school.

Off campus, centers such as the Hancock Community Development Corporation on Henderson Extension offer walk-in help Tuesdays from 1 to 7 p.m. for people earning less than $39,000 for free. The filing is conducted by people trained by the IRS program, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance.

Executive Director of the Hancock Center, Alvin Sheats said, "We try to work with clients and greet everyone with a smile to make them feel comfortable."

He reminds students coming in for assistance to bring all W-2 Forms, valid photo identification, proof of mailing address and bank routing numbers.

When asked about common errors she sees new flyers commonly make, Mary Tolbert at the IRS said mistakes arise because "most people don't really read the sentence."