Income tax time is coming up and NIU students said they deal with the annual April 15 deadline in different ways.

At the end of the year, people sit down and begin doing their taxes, piecing together various W-2 forms. But some students said they never see the income tax forms except to sign them.

Senior Julie Brewbaker, an elementary education major, said she gives her forms to her dad when they arrive from NIU. “He fills them out and I sign them,” she said.

Freshman Jason Eberhardt said he lets his mom fill them out “because she enjoys filling out the income tax forms.”

Other students open up the instruction booklet and begin filling out their income tax forms on their own. NIU student Mark Williams said he’s been filling them out and sending them in since he was about seventeen.

Even though some students fill their own tax forms, they still have their parents check them out. Junior political science major Steve Smiejek said he fills the forms out, but when he’s done, his dad goes over them to make sure they’re correct.

Other students don’t even bother to try. “I find the whole thing very confusing so my dad does it,” said sophomore Grant Vreules, a political science major.

Students should be careful this year, however. There was an error made in the state income tax forms this year. The form states that students should claim “0” dependents. Students should actually claim themselves on the form.

“There’s a mistake in the instructions if you follow them carefully,” said Roger Nelson, manager and tax preparer at DeKalb’s H & R Block. Nelson said students should follow the information in the Illinois 1044 form.