When a third candidate of Obama’s administration is caught not paying taxes, it’s enough to make you wonder. If people earning that much money can’t even figure out how to pay their taxes, how is the average American supposed to?
Taxes have been a part of American history since colonial times and yet we still can’t seem to get it together. With all the new rules added each year (you can check out the changes to the 2009 tax laws at irs.gov) it can be a confusing and seemingly insurmountable task just to complete the form (or forms).
For instance, the penalty fee for not filing your taxes, or filing them late, went up this year and you definitely don’t want to be paying more than you have to.
The language of taxes can be quite confusing, however, and some of it is difficult to understand on your own. It’s even difficult for accountants to figure some of this stuff out.
It seems there has been a lack of tax education for the American public when both the average American and those who earn millions, as well as people specifically trained to file taxes, make mistakes.
Though I know most people probably never want to figure out their own taxes and would rather leave it to someone else, this part of our democracy is too important to ignore. It may seem like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo thought up by people just trying to confuse us, but this is not the case. Most of the laws are designed to help us, but piled on top of all the previous laws they tend to not make much sense.
In light of this, I think it’s only right that we have some sort of tax education class before we’re forced into the dreaded “real world” where we have to figure out things for ourselves and where the penalties for mistakes are much higher. It would be great to have a basic introduction to personal finance class in high school and then have another, more advanced class in college.
I know no one wants to take more classes, especially those that deal with such a mundane aspect of life, but the truth is, this country needs taxes to function properly. Most people I know don’t really understand why we pay taxes (only that we have to) and where exactly our money goes (to CEOs who feel the millions they make running companies into the ground aren’t enough), so a class that would teach us this information would be very helpful.
Everyone should have at least a cursory understanding of the tax system and its history. Filing taxes should not be something that we dread each year. A little education can go a long way towards making sense of our taxes, at least knowing enough to feel confident when April 15 rolls around. Hey, maybe we’d even do our taxes early if we knew what we were actually doing.
But the day when we have a tax class may be far off or may never come. Maybe there will be too much opposition to such a concept. But if it is created one day, I predict many more people will feel better about filing their taxes.
So where does a poor college student turn to when they can’t hire a personal CPA? At Cal Poly we are lucky because we have senior business students who volunteer through the Volunteer Tax Assistance Program (VITA) to help students and other low-income families file their taxes correctly for free. From 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Saturday until March 14, VITA will be on the third floor of the business building.
There are also many helpful Web sites out there to help you complete your tax forms.
H&R Block (hrblock.com) has several tax calculators including a tax estimator to help you decide how much credit or how many deductions you could get from student loan interest and tuition costs.
The IRS has part of its Web site devoted to students and there is even a section on “Understanding Taxes.” This site is particularly helpful because it covers a wide range of topics, from events in your life that may affect your taxes to what types of income for college students are considered taxable. Plus, you know the information on this site is correct.
So as we get deeper into tax season, try to look at it as a learning opportunity. Knowing even a little more about the tax process will put you at ease and make you confident that you can get through it without having a heart attack.
Alisha Axsom is a journalism senior and a Mustang Daily reporter.