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Editorial
Editorial Archives
Friday, February 11, 2005; Page 19
Making Financial Planning Hip
The Internal Revenue Service has reported that nearly $2.5 billion in earned income tax credits went unclaimed last year and young men and women between the ages of 18 and 24 accounted for the majority of that income that eventually ended up back in the hands of the federal government.
According to Russell Simmons, record mogul turned political and economic activist, most young adults don’t file their taxes because they believe “the filing process is too difficult.” As a result, Simmons has created UniRush, a financial services company that aims to ensure that young adults file their taxes and claim their tax refunds. Simmons has partnered with Intuit, the maker of Turbo Tax software, to create this so-called easy tax filing system that can be found online at www.ttrefund.com.
According to Simmons, just like voting, young people can’t criticize their leaders if they don’t vote. He adds that they can’t criticize a war on poor brown people if they finance it with their tax dollars. On average, he reports that young people earn anywhere from $900 to $1000 a year in refunds that they miss out on because they don’t file their taxes and they don’t have a bank account in which the money can be deposited. His company seeks to address these and a myriad of issues that preclude an estimated 48 million Americans from taking advantage of an array of basic financial services.
From voting rights to equal economic opportunity, Simmons has hit another home run when it comes to teaching the hip-hop generation the ropes about surviving in this capitalistic society. Thank goodness he does not subscribe to the “I got mine; you get yours!” philosophy or more young people will be hip-hoppin’ their way to the poor house even if they were lucky enough to by-pass the jail house. |
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