Think your History and Literature degree qualifies you to balance your checkbook? According to a man known as “the Tax Detective,” you couldn’t be more wrong.
Last Friday, Jim Briggs led students through Taxes 101 in the second of a series of workshops open to Harvard University students. According to Briggs, who is a former IRS agent and co-founder of the Chesapeke Bagel Factory, Harvard students “have a long way to go” before they grasp the ins and outs of taxes.
“You have to remember,” says Briggs, “these kids have been students, they’ve never worked, they’ve never had a job.” Economics 1745 is one thing, but I-9s are quite another.
Living in the Harvard bubble has its consequences. Michael W. Zellman-Rohrer ’10 confirms Briggs’s worst tax fears: “I didn’t really know what to do with them,” he confesses. When asked about the state of his finances, Michael J. Graham ’10 looks pensive and announces that he’s “heard of a W-4 form before.” Well, that’s a start.
The eager crowd of students from several Harvard schools listened attentively while Briggs gave them the 411 on 401ks and T-85s. Next year, Briggs plans to market his services to College students as well.
So, keep an eye out for the Tax Detective, because that A in Medical Detectives won’t get you far in the real world.
