Maureen Dougherty, assistant professor of taxation in the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, has one piece of advice for students: Don’t fail to file.
Dougherty said students should first check if they are dependent on their parents for tax purposes. If a person is considered a dependent, they cannot receive a deduction for themselves.
“You can’t be claimed as your own dependent and your parents’ dependent,” she said.
Walt Sammis, tax associate at H&R Block, said students can be claimed as dependents if they are full-time students under the age of 24 and their parents provide more than half of their support. He said being claimed as parents’ dependent is financially better for the family.
“Most students don’t have such a high income, and so in many cases, they don’t even owe any taxes anyway, so the education credits don’t really benefit them very much,” Sammis said. “But the parents, who probably have higher income, pay more taxes than the students, so they get a bigger benefit from the educational credits for the student.”
Sammis suggested that students gather their records like forms that show the cost of tuition, fees and books. They should also gather information on where the money spent on school came from whether it was scholarships, grants, loans, parents’ income or students’ income.
“We need to know all that in order to get the best possible educational credits for the student,” Sammis said.
Dougherty said students who work should check if federal taxes were withheld from their incomes. If so, they may be entitled to a refund.
“If you don’t file the return, you can’t get that money back,” she said. “But if you look at your W-2, when you get that from your employer, you’ll see the federal income tax which was held and that can be a substantial number for you.”
Sammis said single people under 65 are legally required to file if their income was $9,350 or above between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2010.
Dougherty said income includes wages, interest, dividends or capital gain. She also said students who don’t live in Florida, which does not have a state income tax, may have other taxes.
“They’ve got to determine whether for federal purposes or state purposes they have other types of income,” she said. “That could be interest income or dividends from stock that might be registered in their names.”
Dougherty said that students don’t need every receipt unless they are itemizing their deductions or have many expenses from their jobs.
“For example, if you have to drive and use your own car and your employer reimburses you, then you’ll want to have those receipts because your employer will include that in your income, and you’ll want to get a deduction for it,” she said.
Dougherty said students can go to the International Revenue Service’s Web site and access its free application for preparing and filing tax returns, buy Turbo Tax software or prepare them by hand.
Tax returns are due on April 18, this year instead of April 15. Michael Dobzinski, spokesperson for the IRS, said this is because April 15 falls on the same day as Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in Washington, D.C.
“It’s considered a holiday for tax filing purposes,” he said. “When a tax filing due date falls on a holiday, it is postponed until the next business day.”
Dougherty said those who cannot do their taxes in time can request an extension until Oct. 15.
