For a college going student, the whole concept and procedure of filing taxes is not without its challenges and trails. Some of these challenges include determining when and how to file taxes. And for the most part, filing taxes also requires the college students to take in to consideration their preceding year’s employment, income, indebted taxes and their parents’ taxpaying strategies.so, in order to keep all of these aspects in mind, there are certain tax filing tips for college students so that the process becomes easy to understand and apply in respective situations.
Is tax filing for college students necessary?
But before we go in to the crux of the matter and discuss the tax filing tips for college students, let us first take a brief look at the fact that do college students require tax filing? Well, like any other tax related question, the answer to this query is also situation specific. So, college students who can or have earned an income that is less than $12,000 dollars that comes under the domain of normal deduction, they need not to file for taxes. However, if, on their paychecks, income tax is withheld or pending, they will definitely be required to file for taxes. It is because if they do not pay back the taxes, their debt increases over time and they cease to submit a tax return, they end up losing the money they are indebted to pay to their money lenders.
Some of the tax filing tips for college students
If you are filing for your federal income tax for the first time, be prepared of the fact that the process is going to be daunting. It is because we have all grown up hearing our parents and media complaining and frowning whenever the tax season comes. Therefore, here are some of the advices from university experts that will make things regarding tax filing a lot easier for college going students when they are filing their first tax returns:
Whenever your paychecks have taxes in pending, always file for the tax return
According to the tax laws, in the tax season, any dependent individual who earn income that is less than $6500, is not obligated to file for a tax return. And individuals who earn over this specific amount have to file for taxes. However, if dependent college students have withholding taxes in their paychecks, then the college going taxpayer need to file for tax return even if the earn less than the specified earning income.
Obtain a W-2 Form
The W-2 form acts as an evidence of the fact that you are an employee of a specific company or organization. And in order to file for the tax return, the college going taxpayer needs to get access to the form. Furthermore, if the students are working in more than one company or organizations, they need to obtain different W-2 forms from their respective employers. Normally, the employers or owners of the company send you the W-2 form before 31st January and if by chance they do not send by them, you can contact them.
A dependent individual cannot claim for tax exemptions
One of the basic fundamentals of tax filing is the realization that you are dependent on your parent’s tax return. The sooner you realize and make this fact a rule of your thumb, the better. Failing to realize this is one of the most awful shortcomings of the college student. According to the regulations and laws of the Internal Revenue service, in order to claim you tax exemption, the individual must be an eligible child or relative, he/she needs to meet certain terms and conditions regarding age, employment status, income and whether they are full time or part time students. And since when majority of the college students fall under the segmentation of dependent individuals, they cannot claim for tax exemptions.
Initiate an early preparation
Although the deadline for the submission of tax return file is on 17th April, the university experts usually advise their college peers to initiate the tax filing process before hand or a little earlier. The benefit of an early preparation is that you will have ample of time to sort all your tax related documents and seek consultation from Tax Preparer or Accountant. And you will also have sufficient time to organize a book-keeping for all your documents.
So, above were some of the tax filing tips for college students which will help them to pass through the whole strenuous process easily.
