By Brendan Miller
A UMD volunteer organization uses financial expertise to help students and members of the community with their taxes.
The student-led group, TerpTax, meets every Monday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to offer free tax assistance to those in need. The group meets at Van Munching Hall in room 3522, with priority given to those who make an appointment before attending.
Cyber security graduate student Siddharth Manohar is filing taxes for the first time with TerpTax.
“I believe for international students it is very hard because there’s a lot of forms you have to fill out,” Manohar said. He is one of many international students TerpTax has been able to assist.
Manohar did not want to have future financial issues as a result of filing his taxes alone, so he came to TerpTax for assistance.
“I didn’t want to screw up and have it affect me in the future, and they have helped me so far,” Manohar said.
TerpTax originated in 2015 as a 12-person pilot program. The group is now comprised of approximately 80 student volunteers, mostly accounting majors in the Smith School of Business. The group primarily assists UMD students and faculty but has branched out to help members of the local community as well.
“We went to an assisted living center last week and we did free tax returns for 15 senior citizens,” Professor Samuel Handwerger said, who leads the TerpTax organization. “[The assisted living center] has never had a group come in for two years in a row until we came along,” Handwerger added.
TerpTax has recently put an emphasis on assisting international students this semester. International students are faced with higher fees and other barriers when it comes to tax returns, according to TerpTax President Yohan Kim, a senior accounting major.
“This year our program director, Samuel Handwerger, decided to take on all the tax needs of international students,” Kim said. “So, we have been a lot busier this year.”
The group provides student volunteers with an opportunity to get hands-on experience working on real tax returns. TerpTax is also a part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, a nationwide program run by the IRS. All members are required to go through adequate training, which is available both online and in the classroom.
First year accounting graduate student and TerpTax member Kathy Sheng said her favorite part about being a part of the organization was being able to apply what she has learned in class by helping others file tax returns.
“There’s a real sense of achievement when you complete a return and a client is happy with a return, especially when you see them come back the next year and know you’ve done a good job,” Sheng said.
Featured photo courtesy of Brendan Miller.