'Tis the Season

For taxes! I will be missing my favorite service activity of January-April this year: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA. BYU ran the largest VITA Lab in the country, and we did the most taxes than any other VITA Lab. For those of you who do not know, you may qualify for free tax service via VITA. You can check it out at the IRS's website here. OK State does not run a VITA Lab, unfortunately, and I have high hopes for planting some seeds to get one going in Stillwater run by students. They do have it in Stillwater, just not at the University. It's a great opportunity for accounting students to get hands on experience and do some great service at the same time.

Now, what sparked this is not just that taxes are due for individuals and some entities in 4 short months, but that my good friend came to me with advice for whether or not she should get herself a tax professional. My advice is the same to most people: if you are working, making money, and will be paying taxes, you should really think about getting a tax professional. And by tax professional, I mean a CPA. You want a CPA because they are credentialed and regulated by the AICPA in addition to the IRS. Contact your state's CPA society and request some references for reputable CPA firms. Then go meet the people and interview them! Happy Tax Preparations!