Receives five Best of Category Awards

The McKinney ISD Communications Department was honored by the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) in Austin, Texas for its ongoing communication initiatives, including the McKinney ISD website and a number of print and electronic media efforts. The district received five Best of Category awards, the highest honor a district can receive by the organization. In addition, McKinney ISD was awarded 12 Gold Star awards and one Silver Star award. The awards were announced at the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) Star Awards Celebration during the association’s annual conference in Austin.

Filing federal income tax returns can be a daunting task, especially for young adults who have little experience with the process.

Paul Goebel, director of the Student Money Management Center at the University of North Texas, says that one of the greatest myths about filing taxes is that the task is complicated, riddled with complexities of tax laws, laborious and intimidating.

The Student Money Management Center will take the anxiety out of tax season by offering several tax-related events in the coming weeks. The first event will be called Preparing for the Tax Man and will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. on March 22. This workshop will teach simple techniques to take stress out of the tax season.

The center, in partnership with the United Way of Denton County, also will host two free tax preparation sessions via the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, which provides free income tax return preparation to taxpayers earning up to $45,000 annually. The VITA sessions will be held on March 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. and April 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. The VITA sessions will be held in Chestnut Hall, room 324. Reservations are required for the sessions, call

940-369-7761 to reserve a space.

If students can’t make it to the tax preparation events, Goebel offers a few tips that will help young adults file their tax returns with confidence. He emphasizes the importance of starting early and being organized.

“April 15 comes around the same time every year! Why wait until midnight on April 15 to file your tax return? Make it a practice of starting early by filing your return in February. If you start early you will also end early,” said Goebel. “It also is important to be organized. Having all the right documents and information readily available is half the battle for most people when they start thinking about filing their taxes.”

Goebel also says that it is important for college students to visit www.irs.gov to determine which education tax credits they may be eligible to claim. He says that changes have been made this year to expand the types of education expenses that can be used in the calculation of these credits.

Finally, Goebel says that it is okay to ask for assistance, and that if all else fails, it is possible to file for an extension using Form 4868, but he cautions that individuals that file extensions are still responsible for the interest on any tax not paid by the regular due date of your return and will be charged a late payment penalty.