After shelling out hundreds of dollars to buy a semester’s worth of

books, students can take advantage of a state tax-code loophole to

save a little pocket money.

With another tuition-increase battle looming on the horizon,

Government of the Student Body officials encourage students to

save receipts from the University Book Store and send them to the

state government for a tax rebate.

“This is just the first of many things we’ll be doing this year . to

make sure students can make ends meet,” said GSB President

Andy Tofilon.

To get the tax rebate, students can go to www.gsb.iastate.edu/tax

and fill out an online form. Then, they should send a copy of the

receipts to the compliance division of the Iowa Department of

Revenue and Finance.

“Within a couple of months, they’ll get a check in the mail from the

state refunding the tax,” Tofilon said.

The tax-rebate forms can be submitted for book purchases from

as far back as three years ago, he said. In addition, computers

purchased from the campus microprocessing center are eligible

for the refund.

Tofilon said he is working for across-the-board tax-free textbooks

in Iowa, so students who buy from Campus Book Store will also

be able to save money.

“We’re not going out and telling people to buy your books at UBS,”

he said. “We don’t want to be competing against [Campus Book

Store] – we just want to make sure students are aware of the

options they have.”

– Wendy Weiskircher