University of Memphis business major James Galloway runs his owntax service. And like many tax specialists, Galloway has a littlelast-minute advice for procrastinators.
"They need to hurry up," Galloway said.
With the April 15 deadline for filing federal tax returnslooming, some U of M students are still scrambling to submit theirreturns.
Aziza Aziz, junior anthropology major, has waited to file hertaxes for a variety of reasons.
"I am a terrible procrastinator. I don't have Internet access athome, and I don't want to pay taxes," Aziz said.
Students still have time, but it is important to get returns inbefore deadline, said Chuck Davis, H&R Block Memphis districtmanager.
General accounting manager Gary Moore said if students cannotfile their taxes by Thursday, they will have to request anautomatic extension, which he said is an easy process and givesuntil Aug. 15 to file. However, students who owe taxes cannotpostpone their payments and are subject to fines if they try, Mooreadded.
There are several ways students can file their taxes and getthem in on time. Filing agencies like H&R Block will preparetax forms and file them via Internet. Students can also preparetheir own taxes using the Internal Revenue Service's online serviceon the IRS Web site, www.irs.gov.
"By far electronic filling is the best way to go," Davissaid.
Experts encouraged students filing on their own to make surethey receive all the credits and deductions possible and take thereturn to be reviewed by a professional.
"Do (your taxes) on your own if it's comfortable," Moore said."If not, take it to a professional."
Galloway said the return process usually takes between 48 hoursand a couple of months. To receive a refund in a couple days, mostfiling services impose a charge. However, the time it takes toreceive a return is not the biggest complaint among students.
The biggest problem many students face is dealing with thecomplicated filing process, experts said.
"Some tax returns seem simple, and in many cases it works thatway," Davis said. "But there are special deductions and creditsstudents don't know about."
Students claiming themselves as a dependent when their parentsare also claiming them is one of the most repetitive and confusingproblems, Davis said. This mistake will not result in fines butwill invalidate what the student has filed.
The best way to avoid the problem is to compare the parents' taxreturn with the students' to see who should claim the student as adependent, Davis said.
For some students, being able to pay taxes they owe is theirbiggest problem.
Aziz said it is unfair to pay while living on a student'sbudget.
"Why am I having to pay taxes and be in college at the sametime," Aziz said.
