students.gov
eZINE
October 1999 Feature Article |
Students:
Less Stress with the IRS!
Chances are pretty good
that you've had some recent interaction with the Internal Revenue
Service. But you probably weren't sitting at your computer at
two in the morning in your bathrobe eating leftover pizza. Thanks
to Access America for Students (AAFS), now students can deal with
the IRS anywhere and anytime -- wearing or eating anything they
want.
AAFS has teamed up
with the IRS to ensure that convenient, online
IRS services are available to students -- everything from
electronic tax filing to the latest on tax rules involved with
scholarships and fellowships. And through the AAFS Web site at
www.students.gov, the IRS
now offers many more valuable resources you probably don't know
about, but should!
"This partnership provides
a one-stop service opportunity for students," said Bob Barr, Assistant
Commissioner (Electronic Tax Administration), IRS. "Tax filing
is a responsibility of every working adult in the U.S. Making
it easier and more convenient is an obligation of the government
and this partnership does just that for postsecondary students
required to file."
"Electronic
filing is a priority at the IRS," Barr said. "One of our challenges
is assuring that a taxpayer's first filing experience is electronic.
It is more costly and difficult to convert a taxpayer from using
paper to electronic than to attract a first time filer into electronic.
A taxpayer's first experience is typically as a student. Therefore,
Access America provides us an opportunity to make Web-based filing
and information retrieval available to these students at the earliest
possible time."
But
filing
taxes online is just one of the convenient IRS
services students can access through AAFS.
College and high school
students can get their specific tax questions answered in the
Students Guide to Federal Income Tax. Students can discover what
education expenses might be tax deductible or how to figure out
exemptions and deductions. The site even includes a W-4 calculator
so students can make sure employers are withholding the correct
Federal income tax from their paychecks.
When it comes to e-filing,
the IRS goal is 80 percent of all tax returns and information
returns filed electronically by the year 2007, according to the
Electronic
Tax Administration's: A Strategy for Growth. In the 1999 tax
filing year, 24.6 million taxpayers used an IRS e-file option
to file Federal income tax returns, an increase of 19 percent
from the previous year. Electronic filing means faster refunds
for taxpayers and more accurate filing than paper returns.
To make electronic
filing a reality for more Americans, the IRS is working with private
sector companies like Intuit, Universal Tax Systems and others
to bring taxpayers convenient and affordable e-file options. Some
partners offer free
tax preparation and e-file services for lower income taxpayers
-- a group that often includes students. Through these partnerships,
the IRS is able to bring taxpayers affordable, convenient, user
friendly electronic filing (e-file) options available from home.
"This partnership resulted
from the Vice President's vision for providing better delivery
of government services to the public," Barr said. "Better delivery
includes electronic delivery. In this way, many services can be
accessed directly from home or the student's dormitory at a time
and place convenient to the student."
As tax season approaches,
look for more online student services from the IRS available through
Access America for Students.