{"id":141836,"date":"2026-02-03T12:05:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/141836\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:05:06","slug":"usf-professor-warns-students-about-common-tax-filing-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/141836\/","title":{"rendered":"USF professor warns students about common tax filing mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>Tax season is quickly approaching, and USF associate professor of accounting Luke Richardson said students should start preparing sooner rather than later. ORACLE GRAPHIC\/YSABELLA ARDON<\/p>\n

A USF accounting professor shared tips to make tax filing easier as the April 15 tax return deadline approaches.<\/p>\n

Luke Richardson, an associate professor of instruction in accounting, said students can streamline the process by preparing early and reviewing documents to avoid common mistakes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFiling E-file direct deposits can be the best way to get your money as quickly as possible, which I think is a big concern for a lot of folks, students in particular,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n

Richardson said that although some students use other people\u2019s help or software programs to file taxes, they should always review the submission.<\/p>\n

Incorrect taxpayer identification, social security numbers, extra zeroes, letters and other errors can cause a headache and slow down the filing process, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Richardson also said students should report any income when filing taxes \u2014 whether from part-time work, social media work, cryptocurrency or even sports betting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re doing something and being paid for it, general rules, it\u2019s taxable,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n

Richardson said that learning to file taxes, along with familiarizing themselves with new provisions and deductions, can make the tax season easier for USF students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: USF student orgs hit with budget cuts as funding shortfall deepens<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Richardson said that new provisions and policies in President Donald Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill affect how students file and claim tax deductions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One provision in Trump\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill is the \u201cno tax on tips,\u201d which allows tip-paid workers to claim deductions on the first $25,000 earned in qualifying tips, according to the IRS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo tax on tips doesn\u2019t mean that tip income is not taxable,\u201d Richardson said, \u201cIt\u2019s actually a deduction that allows you to offset the tip income up to a certain amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Richardson said the most important thing for students to note when filing taxes is not to pay for tax return preparations unless necessary.<\/p>\n

He said that most students do not have investment accounts and will have only a W-2 from a job, and therefore receive \u201csimpler\u201d returns.<\/p>\n

Additionally, students can request assistance through the Free File partnership<\/a> \u2014 an agreement between the IRS and certain tax software providers that offers free services to eligible individuals.<\/p>\n

Related: USF profs explain possible effects of dismantling the Department of Education<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jake Rice, a senior criminology major, said he does not particularly like tax-filing programs and that his father helps him with the process instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of programs like that [are] time-consuming, or just the process of finding them is hard,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n

Rice said that although he would be open to trying tax-filing software, he is concerned about the risk of being scammed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to put my information in something I don\u2019t trust, and if it\u2019s just a random app, little reviews or not good reviews, I\u2019m probably not going to pick it,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n

Rice said some of his friends are reluctant to file tax returns because they aren\u2019t sure they worked and received enough to do so.<\/p>\n

Still, Richardson said students should file taxes even if they \u201conly worked a little bit\u201d or did not earn a high income that year.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Not filing taxes] is a mistake for a lot of students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Richardson said the IRS issues an annual announcement listing the amount of money that could have been returned to taxpayers but wasn\u2019t because some failed to file.<\/p>\n

More than $1.1 billion in refunds were unclaimed in April 2025, according to the IRS<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a gift to the federal government,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n

Richardson said people can request a tax file extension<\/a> \u2014 which gives them more time to fil and send in their returns, rather than more time to pay it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you don\u2019t get more time for is paying your tax return, and a lot of people don\u2019t understand that difference,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n

Still, missed tax return filings can be submitted for up to three years after the original deadline and will allow the taxpayer to receive the refund due, according to the IRS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rice said that he wouldn\u2019t avoid filing a tax return.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I end up paying more, at least I\u2019ll end up getting it back,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n

Related: Some USF students reconsider their careers after Trump\u2019s DEI cuts<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elena Levy, a senior English major, said she thinks students often dread filing taxes because they lack knowledge of how or why to file.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is responsible enough for that,\u201d Levy said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also not just like a big-boy thing. It\u2019s too complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levy said that national economic and social factors could also lead students to dread filing taxes and not even realize they need to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is [a reflection of these factors] because a lot of people just aren\u2019t fully employed,\u201d Levy said.<\/p>\n

Other financial-related anxieties \u2014 including worries about rent and tuition \u2014 can affect students more during tax season, Levy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a lot of unease about that stuff, and it could also be related to just general economic anxiety,\u201d Levy said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to think about that when you\u2019re trying to get your degree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tax season is quickly approaching, and USF associate professor of accounting Luke Richardson said students should start preparing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-141836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-tampa","9":"tag-tampa-headlines","10":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}