Jackson Kennedy, a master student pursuing a dual degree in Master of Business Administration and Master of Sports Management, is helping international students with filing their taxes through peer advising. Kennedy hosts workshops for students, makes PowerPoint presentations and answers questions from students.

International students, like many other non-residents, file their taxes differently from residents and citizens. Aside from having to file taxes in a completely different country with different sets of rules, non-residents also use a different software to file their taxes and follow different protocols depending on the United States’ treaty with their home country. This makes tax season a confusing time for international students, especially those who are doing it for the very first time.

Kennedy helps international students better understand the process of filing taxes. While Kennedy and other people in the international center are not certified tax professionals, he helps students if they have any questions about Sprintax, the tax-filing software for non-residents.

“Taxes are complicated, and filing them as an international student looks very different from filing them as someone who has lived in the US all their lives,” Kennedy said. “I make myself aware of the current regulatory changes and stay up to date with our partners at Sprintax.”

The International Student and Scholar Services decided to hire a person dedicated to helping students when they were getting hundreds of students per week during an already busy season. The months leading up to the end of the Spring semester are often hectic for the ISSS because of different visa needs that come with students graduating and new students coming into the campus.

“We as a team were spending a lot of time on tax questions, some of which are just a matter of being a new experience for students,” Dr. Leah McSorley, the director of ISSS, said. “I would not assign this task to just anybody, but Jackson’s skillset was suited for it.”

Despite being an American student himself, Kennedy has been very passionate about helping international students with their experiences. Born in Tunisia and having lived in Nigeria, Kennedy wanted to give back to the international community.

“My background certainly fuels my passion, but actively helping the students is a much larger part of it,” Kennedy said. “I helped anywhere between 70 and 200 students per week last year, and I think I have helped about 50 to 100 students per week this year.”