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