Students seek to ease tax stress
Sometimes, students may feel like they need to learn a new language just to understand tax forms.
W2, 1040, 1040 short, 1099 — many have no idea what all these terms mean.
But two Central Michigan University students want to help.
Sanford senior Baron Kimble and Chesterfield senior TJ Thomas have started “Tax Finish,” a business that offers tax preparation services for $50 each.
“If you go to H&R Block, they’re going to charge you double or triple, at the very minimum, for something you can do,” Kimble said. “Basically, I can do the gambit for you.”
The duo has distributed dozens of fliers around campus promoting their business. So far, Kimble said, they have had about 25 customers.
Kimble, an accounting major, was working in the film industry in Los Angeles two years ago when he found himself dissatisfied with the direction the business was headed. He began looking for other opportunities that might be less affected by economic turmoil.
Kimble contacted accounting professor William Hood.
“I don’t even know he got my number,” Hood said. “He’s such a hard worker. Accounting and tax is not easy to pick up, not many people pick it up passively.”
Kimble premiered his personal tax business idea by entering the LaBelle Entrepreneurial Center’s “Make-a-Pitch” contest in October 2009. The contest awards a CMU student $500 to start a small business.
He lost the competition, but pursued his vision anyway.
“I tried to think of a practical business idea for (Central Michigan University), something that could be done with low cost of capital entry,” he said.
Easy paperwork
Kimble got the idea after seeing fliers for personal computer services around campus with many of the tabs pulled off.
“I thought, ‘Someone out there is being paid basically $20 per hour to run spyware on a computer.’ I’m going to go into taxes, and nobody is probably going to compete against me,” he said.
Thomas and Kimble are both accounting students and became fast friends after working on a class project.
The ability to think critically is what Hood makes Kimble a standout student, Hood said.
He said Kimble is fascinated with his work and would always have questions that went beyond the scope of textbooks and homework.
Kimble said his accounting education has given him the chance to offer better service than some professionals.
The pair, Thomas said, like to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other.
“The workload between us is almost even, but he’s done more with advertising and his number is on the flier,” Thomas said.
“If more students were like (Kimble), this job would be a lot easier,” Hood said.
