Sabrina Lupo said she wants to go to Wyoming for spring break, but she is worried her W-2 tax forms are going to get in the way.
Lupo said she usually turns her taxes in as early as she can so she can have the extra money during the break. However, this year she doesn't have the documents she needs to file because she moved and didn't change her address.
Lupo, senior psychology major, is now going to have to go to her former employers, who she is not excited about seeing, and ask them for new W-2 forms before she can get the return she wants.
"It's like having an extra bank account to spend," she said. Although the deadline for filing taxes is still a little more than a month away, the sooner you file and the more you know about filing the quicker you can get your return.
Lupo said she thinks students, including herself, often miss exemptions they could be taking advantage of.
"I file as soon as I can and they send me money," she said. "I don't play around to see what I am eligible for."
She said the books on taxes are not written for average people, so it is not always clear to know what to do around tax time.
Don Ziegelbauer, a tax advisor at H & R Block, said there are two tax credits, the Hope credit and the Lifetime credit, students should be aware of.
The Hope credit is for students who are in their first two years of post-secondary education.
In order to be eligible for this credit, students must be in a program that leads to a degree, be a full-time student and not have a felony drug charge, according to Ziegelbauer.
The Hope credit will cover 100 percent of the first $1,000 a student, or the person claiming the student, owes in taxes.
The Lifetime credit has fewer restrictions than the Hope credit, but it only covers 50 percent of the first $1,000 owed.
Missing exemptions is not the worst mistake students make when filing taxes, Ziegelbauer said.
Students under 24 years old should almost always let their parents claim them as a dependent, according to Ziegelbauer.
"Claiming themselves doesn't do them any good and hurts their parent," he said. "Students should usually coordinate with parents and have someone look at their taxes."
Students often leave home and want to be independent, but that can rob their parents of benefits, he said.
Tyler Danner, U of M sophomore, said he waits for his parents before he will do his taxes.
Danner said he usually just stores his W-2 forms away and forgets about them until his parents remind him.
"They're more reliable than me," he said. "It's not really something students think about."
