Free tax service provides relief to students
■ Beta Alpha Psi fraternity
sponsors a series of tax
workshops to help teach
students how to file
By Simone Ripke
Oregon Daily Emerald
Megan Wilson, a senior journal
ism major, spent hours trying to
make sense out of her tax forms.
Even the Internal Revenue Service
help line could not clear up her
confusion about multiple W2
forms, numbers and more forms.
But there was help. On Satur
day, Wilson and 16 other students
took advantage of free tax help of
fered by Beta Alpha Psi, the ac
counting honors fraternity. Volun
teers from Beta Alpha Psi teamed
up with IRS experts to work one
on-one with students and help
them fill out their tax forms cor
rectly.
“It went just great,” Wilson said.
Her forms were filled out and
filed after only 45 minutes.
Tracy Fisher, a senior majoring
in accounting and the community
service head for Beta Alpha Psi,
said the event was made possible
by volunteers from the fraternity,
tax preparers from the IRS and
such accounting firms as Arthur
Andersen, Price Waterhouse
Coopers, Deloitte and Touche, and
Moss Adams, who donated mon
ey and equipment.
Every tax preparer had a com
puter available to enter students’
information. Students had access
to IRS software, which enabled
Crystal Hernandez (center) helps answer the tax questions of Michelle A. Johnson (left) with other student advisors Alan Gilds,
Shannon Dolan and Tracy Fisher. Beta Alpha Psi sponsored the program, which helps students learn the ins and outs of filing.
them to have the computers do the
math and file on-line.
The IRS also gave the Beta Al
pha Psi volunteers a crash course
focusing on the tax needs typical
for students.
“We had people help out on all
levels of this,” Fisher said.
Fisher said e-filing usually costs
$50 and has the advantage that
any tax refund someone might be
entitled to is usually received
within 11 days, which is signifi
cantly faster than the months
some people wait when they file
in the mail.
Students who came to get tax
help were able to e-file forfree but
could also choose to send in their
forms by mail.
Beta Alpha Psi President Shan
non Dolan, a senior accounting
major, said Saturday’s workshop
was only the first of five such
events. Students will have more
opportunities to get tax help
March 4, March 18, April 1 and
April 8. Tax help will be available
from 11:30a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dolan
said she expects the demand for
help to increase as the April 15
deadline for filing comes closer.
Dolan said she hopes the work
Need assistance?
What: Free tax help
Who: Beta Alpha Psi
When: March 4, March 18, April 1,
April 8:11.30 a.m. - 3.30 p.m.
Where: 133 Gilbert Hall
shops will become an annual
event sponsored by Beta Alpha Psi
members.
“This is the first time we have
done this, and we are hoping that
future students will be encour
aged to continue the tradition.”
Dave Bullard from the IRS pro
vided the crash course for tax pre
parers and was one of three IRS
experts who volunteered at Satur
day’s workshop, answering the
questions of the brand new tax
preparers and their client^, who
did not all fit the mold of the stan
dard cqllege students with typical
tax needs.
The crash course provided vol
unteers with the basics and fo
cused specifically on the need of
the average student, Bullard said
Fisher said the crash covfrse was
helpful but was glad IRS experts
were on site to help.
“I don’t think you can go
through a tax form without ques
tions,” she said.
Diane Schoeffler, a second-year
graduate student, said she came to
the workshop because filling out
tax forms in the past has cost her a
lot of time, effort and nerve.
The program “really saved me a
lot,” she said.
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