Honor society assists students with tax returns
Sunday, August 15, 2010 at 4:01PM By Jonathan McFadden
Beta Alpha Psi, an accounting honors society in Winthrop’s College of Business, is offering Winthrop students the chance to have their income tax returns filed free of charge.
Members of Beta Alpha Psi can file the income taxes of students who bring them sufficient tax documents using the tax-preparation service Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and a software called Tax Wise.
VITA, a program sponsored by the IRS, has been operating out of Winthrop for six years. They renewed their services on Feb. 17 and will continue until spring break. Franklin Lin, a junior finance and economics double major, is the student coordinator for VITA at Winthrop and said using the services offered on campus are better than going to places such as H&R Block, which may over charge students.
The president of Beta Alpha Psi, graduate accounting student Evan Mitchell, said members of the organization who are filing students’ taxes have VITA training. “As far as complicated stuff, we have resources on our Web site so you know where other VITA sites are where you can get assistance for other things,” Mitchell said. Lin said he thinks helping file other students’ taxes will help accounting majors prepare for their jobs in the real world when they work for companies and firms. Beta Alpha Psi keeps a list of all accounting majors on campus and sends them e-mails informing them about tax-filing opportunities.
Students who are U.S. citizens can have their taxes electronically filed or e-filed, and will have the choice of directly depositing their refund into their accounts or having it mailed to them. Due to IRS laws, international students must mail their returns. International students must also file their returns at the International Center in Tillman 206; U.S. students should go to Thurmond 226.
A flier on VITA’s Web site details what students should bring to their appointments. This includes: a copy of the student’s Winthrop ID, any prior tax documentation and a dependency waiver if the student is claimed as dependent on his or her parents’ taxes. In addition to the previous items listed, international students are responsible for bringing two information sheets, one of which requests their international tax information.
Beta Alpha Psi will accept tax documents after spring break, but prefers to have students submit all their paperwork before then because taxes are due April 15.
