As April 15 tax deadline approaches, many students say they don’t even think about doing returns on their own.
CORAL GABLES – University of Miami student Lexi Klapes, 19, confesses she knows little about filling out her income tax return, so she leaves the tedious task to her father’s tax accountant.
“I don’t really understand the tax situation at all,” said Klapes, a sophomore marine biology major who worked a part-time job as a restaurant cashier in her hometown in Massachusetts last summer. She earned up to $20 an hour with tips and got a $100 refund last year.
“My dad has someone do his taxes, and he just tells me what boxes to check,” she said.
“I’ve never done them before,” said Paulina Barnjak, a UM freshman political science major. “I just don’t understand how they work.” Barnjak, like many college students, has never been taught how to file her taxes.
Klapes and Barnjak are like many other UM students who say that their tax returns are done by someone else. In a Communitywire.Miami survey of nearly 80 UM students, the vast majority said they do not file their income tax return on their own. And a large majority said they had yet to finish their income tax return with only two weeks left before the Tuesday, April 15, deadline.
More than 140 million will file
The Internal Revenue Service said it expects more than 140 million individual tax returns for tax year 2024 to be filed ahead of the federal deadline. More than half are expected to be filed with the help of a tax professional, and the “IRS urges people to use a trusted tax pro to avoid potential scams and schemes.
The IRS reports that taxpayers in 25 states, including Florida, can file their 2024 federal taxes directly with the IRS for free through Direct File. The IRS offers an extensive and helpful guide with tips and suggestions on how to correctly file returns.
Most UM students tend to delegate the job of filling out their annual tax return to their parents because they lack an understanding of the entire process.
Lauryn Robertti, 18, a freshman global health major, said taxes are the last thing on her list of priorities, especially with balancing classes and her part-time job as a desk assistant in the university dorms.
“I don’t do my own taxes—my parents handle all of that,” Robertti said. “I’ve never even seen them do it.”
After leaving college, Robertti said she has no plans to do her taxes without help.
“I think when I’m older, I’ll just have someone do it for me,” she said. “I don’t want to be worrying about taxes when I have a million other things going on.”
The Internal Revenue Service devotes part of its website to guiding students on filing tax returns.
Filing on their own
Among the UM students who tackle their tax returns on their own is Carlos Jiménez — though he still uses FreeTaxUSA, a tax prep company, to help him with money earned from his job at Chipotle, the national restaurant chain.
“Once I had a W-2 and started paying rent, it felt like something I should take care of myself,” said Jiménez, a junior computer science major who watched YouTube videos and read some IRS articles to determine which tax forms applied to him.
“The process becomes straightforward whenever you understand which tax forms you require,” Jiménez said.
International students who work in the United States also may need to complete a tax return. Unlike U.S. students, however, international students have to learn and understand a completely new system, often without much help.
Alekhya Kotha, a sophomore finance major from Hyderabad, India, works multiple jobs on campus.
“We have to do the same thing as everyone else,” said Kotha, who uses TurboTax, a software package for preparation of income tax returns.
Kotha is one of about 3,000 undergraduate and graduate international students at UM, according to university officials.
Another complicated issue: scholarships.
Kotha said she received a scholarship last year and was required to pay $400 in U.S. taxes. This year, she says she must pay $600.
“It’s getting expensive,” she said.
What to do with that refund
Most taxpayers obtain a tax refund, according to Bankrate.com, an online publisher of widely read consumer-finance data. Using IRS data, it reported that the average tax refund this year is $3,221.
“At this point, it’s unclear exactly why refunds are trending higher, or whether the higher average amount will hold through 2025,” said Bankrate.com, which found for all of 2024 it was $3,138.
Like Kotha, freshman journalism major Tatiana Piña works several campus jobs, raking in about $6,000 a year. After filing last year’s tax returns, she received a $40 refund, which she used to treat herself to dinner.
“It isn’t much, but it feels good to receive a return,” Piña said. “I feel a sense of accomplishment.”
Michael Walrath, a senior finance major who has been doing his tax returns since he was a sophomore, said he remembers the sense of pride he felt after completing his first return.
“I got $50 back, which wasn’t much, but it made me feel really grown up and confident in my ability to handle my taxes,” he said.
UM students interviewed about taxes said they expect to become more concerned about their financial obligation after they leave college.
“Taxes just aren’t something students think about until they have to,” said political science senior Lauren Becker, who has been filing for the past three years with the help of TurboTax.
“It’s not really something anyone teaches you unfortunately,” she said.
For now, most UM students seem to be in no rush to swap spring break for spreadsheets.
Said Klapes, the sophomore marine biology major: “When I get a full-time job, I’ll start doing my own taxes — I think my dad will help me get set up with it.”
Jeremy Fonseca, a 20-year-old sophomore broadcast journalism major, does not do his own taxes as he has never made enough to file. Fonseca said he knows that he eventually will have to figure out how to do his own taxes. When doomsday eventually arrives, Fonseca said he will simply tackle it head on and figure it out as he goes.
“I’m a quick learner and feel quite confident in my abilities when that time comes,” he said.
Contributing to this story: Juan Laracuente, Kelly Pifer, Rebecca Peikes, Charles Picciotto, Sam Rotenberg, Andrew Schwartz and Skyler Schwanewede
Where students say they get help with completing tax returns:
