There seems to be an eerie ignorance floating about the grounds of Ohio State’s campus. Between classes and parties, some students find time to work.
These dedicated individuals are the apples of their parents’ eyes. They fight forward day by day, pinching pennies to be able to have the simplest of luxuries in life, or to pay that tuition bill that is four weeks late.
Yes, these hardworking individuals are no doubt some of the busiest students you will see wandering around the halls of O-H-I-O.
One would be led to believe, through common sense, of course, that these pioneers of progress, this generation of up-and-comers would be knowledgeable enough to keep their hands on every cent of their hard-earned cash that is humanly possible.
But curiously enough, right around this time of year, so many of them flush hundreds of dollars down the drain unknowingly. How is this strange phenomenon possible?
I am not talking about a credit card scam or stolen identities. I am talking about something older than any of us or our grandfathers, even older than our founding fathers. I am talking about one of the two sure things in life, according to Benjamin Franklin.
I am talking about taxes.
Ah yes, taxes, you say with a squeamish twinge. Those horrible little taxes that eat away at your hard-earned beer money, I mean rent money, year round. Every two weeks, the government takes roughly 25 percent of those precious dollars, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Or so you thought. True, some of you have filed taxes before and probably think you know what you are doing, think you are getting the maximum amount back by law.
An even smaller percentage of you might be right. But if the word on the street and around the Oval represents even remotely the knowledge that the average college student has about taxes, then most of you are getting screwed.
Talking to students, it seems the reasons are without boundaries. Some think it is too time consuming, others say their parents do it, some even think they don’t make enough money to have to file taxes, and yet others are deathly afraid of owing money to the IRS.
So what is the point? Why students? Why pick on the leaders of the next generation? After all, “The Simpsons” are almost on and then there’s “Friends,” and I think “That 70s Show” is doing a spoof on “That 80s Show,” where they act like it’s “That 90s Show.” The reason is that we get a leg up on the competition.
In 1997, there was a tax relief act of extreme importance to students. The Lifetime Learning credit and the Hope Scholarship credit were put into effect. The latter of the two can only be used by students in their first two years of school.
The prior can be used by any student, any age. The beauty of these acts is if you are the average student, working the average job, odds are you can get every single dime of your federal taxes back. If you had $900 taken out, you would only have gotten about $250-$300 back before. Now, you can have it all back.
The catch is you cannot be claimed as a dependent on your parents’ tax return. However, if you are working through college, your parents probably are not helping you all that much. You can probably talk to them and ask them not to claim you as a dependent. I mean, with that extra money you’re getting back from taxes, maybe you won’t need to borrow any money from them for that spring break trip to Cancun, I mean, the Study Abroad program at the Vatican.
So take the time to look it up and see if you qualify. It is a simple form with the numbers 8863 on the top left corner, and you file it along with another simple form with the numbers 1040 across the top. Both come with instructions, both have help numbers and both are probably going to earn you a lot of money for your beer fund next quarter, I mean, your textbooks next quarter.
Plus, you can walk with your head up high knowing the government didn’t play you for a sucker. It might actually help you learn something useful during your tenure at O-H-I-O.
Shawn McKenna is a senior in journalism. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
