Matt Nelson offers tax tips and describes job opportunities with Jackson Hewitt on Episode 240

Today I will be interviewing a representative from Jackson Hewitt, a company that prepares taxes for businesses and individuals. He will provide some tax advice for Workampers and describe an opportunity to make money by preparing returns for others. Matt Nelson is a franchise operator with Jackson Hewitt. His company is based in Dallas, but Matt has offices throughout Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and California. However, his firm prepares taxes for people in all 50 states. Matt has been preparing tax returns for 16 years for people in many different situations. However, Workampers are one of the firm’s key customers. Consequently, Jackson Hewitt has helped guide them through a variety of situations. The biggest challenges Workampers face is having multiple W-2 forms from different employers, which are often from different states as well. Workampers may also have a rental property they are managing while traveling, as well as pension or investment income, too. Sometimes, Workampers receive W-2 forms for jobs they perform, and other times they receive 1099 forms as intendent contractors. So, Matt describes some things to take into consideration regarding both types of reportable income. Matt talks a bit about issues surrounding domicile and the impact selecting a specific state as a domicile can have on taxes. He also talks about some common misconceptions people have about deducting business and personal expenses from their returns. There are some ways Workampers can maintain tax records in a way that doesn’t require a lot of personal storage space, and Matt outlines some tools available for that. Taxes are a tricky subject that many people don’t like to talk about. They may find the subject confusing or aggravating. Or, they live in needless fear of making a mistake on their taxes. So I appreciate Matt for helping to alleviate their fears with practical and useful information to comply with tax laws while still taking advantage of every possible deduction. If a Workamper has any questions about their tax status or issues about selecting a domicile state, it’s a good idea to talk to people, like Matt, now rather than waiting until the middle of a busy tax season. In addition to preparing taxes for Workampers, Jackson Hewitt also hires Workampers to prepare taxes for others. Working for Jackson Hewitt has been a favorite Workamping job for many people who are friendly, patient and willing to provide a valuable service to others. The jobs start in December and continue through April 15, when tax forms or extensions need to be filed. Matt noted it’s a great job to have because people can make good incomes working for Jackson Hewitt early in the year and still have time to get to a summer job at a popular tourist destination. Preparing taxes is a professional-type job performed either in Jackson Hewitt offices or at satellite locations, such as Walmart kiosks. No experience is necessary because Jackson Hewitt provides all the training needed to learn what forms to fill out. Workampers also learn how to use the company’s software to guide them in collecting all the information needed to calculate taxes due or a possible refund. In fact, Matt says the training is so through that Workampers will be able to prepare tax forms for 75% of the people they encounter without any problem. For those situations that require a little more knowledge of the tax code, there are full-time Jackson Hewitt tax professionals available at each location. They can either help a Workamper fill out the proper forms, or simply handle the more difficult type of returns themselves. Preparing taxes for Jackson Hewitt usually requires Workampers to ask a series of questions prompted by the company’s software. The training also explains how changes to a life situation, such as the arrival of a new dependent or a divorce, can impact taxes. That way, Workampers can a