Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 17, 1993 TAG: 9311170031
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG LESMERISES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But taxes aren't going away. So they may as well be done right.
That's why adult students in the Roanoke area are enrolled in income tax training schools offered by H&R Block. Some are there to learn to better prepare their own forms. Others hope to be hired by H&R Block when the tax season begins in January. Others have even more unusual reasons.
"I love doing taxes," said Pam Dinkle, a homemaker from Moneta. "My husband owns a farm, so I do his taxes at home."
She has three children and, after the youngest started school this year, the extra free time allowed her to take the class, which meets for three hours on Monday and Thursday mornings.
She said she spends all day Tuesday on homework, which has proved more difficult than she anticipated. Another class member called her the "ace student," and Dinkle hopes to work for Block when the class is over.
"I like the challenge," she said.
Dinkle is one of 15 students in the class that meets at Tanglewood Mall. Her classmates include other homemakers, an attorney, a bartender and a retiree.
Their teacher, Donna Speas, got involved with Block when she saw a newspaper ad for a similar class 10 years ago.
"I was the mother of young children and decided I needed something to do part-time," said Speas. "I enjoy doing it, and the time of the year is great. I still have summers with the children."
The 11-week basic tax class costs $275 for 22 three-hour sessions. So these students take it seriously.
"That's the nice thing about teaching adults," said Speas. "They want to be here, they're usually prepared and there are no discipline problems."
Otherwise, the class is like any other you would see in a high school or college. Calculators, highlighters and fast-food beverages are strewn across the tabletops. Faces still turn red when they give wrong answers and explanations are whispered to confused classmates.
"I wish I would have enjoyed studying in high school as much as I do now," said Debbie Nichols, who delivers newspapers for a living. Her new self-employed status and its effect on her taxes prompted her to take the class.
There are 15 training schools in session in the Roanoke Valley. Seven are 11-week basic classes and two are introductory five-week-long income-tax classes that started last week and cost $99. The six others are intermediate and advanced classes that cost as much as $450.
Class times are varied so those with free mornings, afternoons or evenings can take advantage of them. There also are some Saturday-only sessions.
For these worthy tax preparers, final exam time is nearing and Speas is asked repeatedly about the test. A 70 percent grade is needed to pass the class and 80 percent is required to work for H&R Block.
A midterm, weekly quizzes and graded homework also are figured into the grading; and Speas is confident her students will have no problems.
They at least know enough to communicate in secret tax jargon and laugh at a joke about itemized deductions that only an insider could find funny.
Deborah Hill, assistant district manager for H&R Block, said about 60 to 70 percent of the students normally apply to work with the national tax preparation company. Of those, 75 percent usually are hired.
They will receive more training, then work as tax preparers and auditors from January through April 15. A first-year preparer makes $6.16 an hour working 14 to 40 hours a week, Hill said. The wage varies based on incentives.
But it takes a bit more than tax knowledge to deal with tax returns, said District Manager Joel Lytton. He and Hill also started with H&R Block by taking tax classes.
"You have to like working with people," said Lytton. "They [customers] don't come in singing and dancing to have their taxes done."
by CNB