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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2018)
2 Tax season arrives © © B '' . \ ? li^ R s " ~ \ Editors-in-Chief Autumn Berend Managing Editor Merari Calderon Ruiz chiefed@clackamas.edu Copy Editor Doug Fry Associate Copy Editor Victoria Durling topved@clackam as.edu News & Opinion Editor -z ASSOCIATE-COPY EDITOR Who wants to do work when someone else can do it for you? A ccording to a G eorgetow n U n iv e r s ity ’ s C e n te r on E d u ca tio n and th e W o rk fo rce study in 2015, around 70 percent of c o lle g e stu d e n ts are also w orking jo b s o u tsid e sc h o o l. W ith h e c tic schedules, and day-to-day challenges in life , m any students have turned to tax assistan ce com panies io file their taxes. “ I d o n ’ t do a w hole lo t, I ju st use fr e e ta x u s a .c o m and do [ta xe s] as soon as I get my W -2 fo r m ,” said Shelby Sm ith of her preferences on filin g her taxes. C o m p a n ie s lik e H & R B lo c k , TurboTax and Jackson Hewitt sit down and do your taxes for you. According to an article published by CNS News, 90 percent o f taxpayers in the United S ta te s use a th ird p arty co m p an y to h elp prepare th e ir ta x re tu rn s, Frpm problems understanding how to comply w ith ta x codes, to the general c o m p le x ity o f tax law s, m ore and more A m ericans are seeking help to file their taxes5. ' Grace K ersting said her step dad, Bob does taxes for his’ jo b .‘* I ’ m lucky enough to have him do them for me. If I d id n ’ t have B ob, I ’ d have .m y b oy frien d ’ s mom do m in e, because she does them for her fa m ily .” A cco rd in g to C N S N ew s, Jo h n A . K o sk in en , a co m m issio n e r fo r the IR S , c la im e d th a t th e n u m b e r o f p eo ple se e k in g tax h elp is on the rise, the IRS has provided a page to help individuals find ta x resources, in c lu d in g free ta x h e lp . On th e ir w ebsite w w w .irs.co m , under th eir “ A rticle s” section, students can find an article titled “ Where To Go If You Need Tax H elp; Know Your O ptions for Tax Preparation A s s is ta n c e .” graphic provided by irs.gov Î OMSMo. 184S79O9S b 035ptoyer slerivScabO!’. fltôvber e Employer's flams, addrasss, 1 Zip cods , 3 Secs# . 8 îiSaSteareSæiWSæiss ! 7 Sacïæ seesïïîy Sps d Centrai ««otser 8 AtoasSas!#)» 1 8 ^sdSeaâonoade e Efntfoyas’sTysifwmeandssitial tastftame & < • ! 71 2 fieparal ineasset«'»iit'nS«si wages ; . ....... ................... Ì S Masticare »sages -. e Hg-ÿâfeïjq- 15 OepeisesnSisaieSMSsegits - Ian Van Orden newsed@clackamas.edu Arts & Culture Editor Luis Correa aced@clackamas.edu Sports Editor Jacob Thompson sportsed@clackamas.edu Photo Editor Sam Weston 12a B s y - : ! 14 Ô à w 12b Ì2 c 12d 18 stst j fo n s la y e re s U ie © « « !*» 1« Sse»»ss®5. sns-«6i. 57 f e e r ie MS iaêa fa ap a .& û .afe ’ î 1 ' ' I j S'. ï ï ? j O ■ fc W Z3 H 1 C U Ji i Wage and Tax Statement ¡15 ¡20 ! S S P Ü. î ■' I 1 ~ of We T«Muiy -MMntt Sedans® Sow ee C o p y 2 -T o B e F ile d With Empioyee’s State, City, or Local Income Tax Return photoed@clackamas.edu Design & Web Editor Alexis Wagar The standard format for a W-2 tax statement, the most common form referenced while preparing to file taxes. T his article provides o p tion s for both free tax preparation and fe e - based tax preparers and goes over som e o f th e lin g o and a cro n y m s do m m o n ly a sso c ia te d w ith filin g taxes to help their audience better understand w hat they need. “ J.use TurboTax, because they have a free o p tio n ,” said Preston Drews. “ Every year I file a 1040EZ, as w ell. I ’ m u su ally m o stly happy w ith my return and they, as a com pany make rhy life m uch e a s ie r.” An article found in Forbes claim s th a t in 1986, o n ly 25,000 returns^ were eletronically filed but recently, th e IR S c la im s M c D o n a ld ’ s - lik e n u m b e rs, a n n o u n c in g m ore th a n “ on e b illio n s e r v e d .” A lth o u g h the Forbes a rticle said 80 percent o f taxes are e -file d , as opposed to the CNS a rticle , e - filin g m akes up the m ajority’ s preferred method for filin g their taxes. H&R BL0CK ON THE COVER: ' Snowflake cover designed by William Farris. PRINT Editorial EXPLORING RESOURCES STUDENTS USE WHILE PREPARING THEIR TAXES BY VIC TO R IA DU RLING CLACKAMAS W hat does th is m ean for the tax p re p a ra tio n in d u stry ? IB ISW orld reported that the industry as a whole w ill m ake m ore th a n $11 b illio n this year. W ith a fa st-p a ce d annual growth percentage (it climbed nearly six p ercen t in ju st five y ears,) i t ’ s safe to say the data su p p orts the claim s o f 80 and 90 percent usage o f tax preparers by the public. As students push forward further into the digital world, jobs in locally- owned tax p reparatio n b u sin esses are b e g in n in g to d is a p p e a r , A n a rtic le on w w w .in v e sto p e d ia .c o m discussed this to p ic, as w ell as the o th e r fa c to rs c o n trib u tin g to the downfall of in -person tax preparers. Low prices, ease of access and a vast array of services seen in on lin e tax preperation com pan ies has forced sm a lle r ta x b u s in e s s e s o u t, and u sh ered in a n ew , d ig ita l age fo r taxes. ©turbotax. webeditor@clackamas.edu Multimedia Editor Summer Barraza photoed@clackamas.edu Ad Manager Liam Anderson admgr@dackamas.edu Contributors William Farris Jared Preble 1 Jeanette W right CD c Jonathan Sanchez Michael Daniel Jeffrey D’Auvergne Adviser CL tn (U 1 (U u JU u <u Crystal Kang crystal.kang@clackamas.edu The Clackamas Print alms to report the news in an honest, unbiased and pro fessional manner. Content published In The Print Is not screened or subject to censorship. The Clackamas Print is free, but please take Only one copy. Any person remov ing oBr papers in bulk will be prosecuted to thé full extent of the law. February 28, 2018
