Taxes boost school funds

Discounts on tax preparation will soon be available to anyone attending or working at the college, courtesy of Fiducial, a tax, bookkeeping, payroll and business-consulting firm.

Navjeet Chahal, the owner of the tax preparation business, is an alumnus of Contra Costa College who came up with the idea.

“(Chahal) stayed in touch with the college over the years. He always wanted to help,” Senior Foundation Director Linda Cherry said.

Chahal is teaming up with the college Foundation to raise money in the wake of a budget deficit.

He came up with the idea to charge a discount and donate the money that would normally be charged for services to the college Foundation, Cherry said.

“I was looking for a place to do my taxes, but instead of going to pay all the money to someone else, I can go get a discount and help raise money to benefit the college,” student Johnathan Amey said.

There are coupons hanging on bulletin boards all around campus that students can redeem for tax preparation discounts, Cherry said.

Individuals can take the coupons to the Fiducial firm location at 3220 Blume Drive Suite 100 in Richmond and identify themselves as a CCC student, faculty or staff member in order to get the discount.

Chahal graduated from CCC and transferred to UC Berkeley. Instead of deciding on Berkeley as the college he would give back to, he chose CCC as the beneficiary, Cherry said.

Chahal said, “I wanted to give back to CCC because it really gave me a chance to reach my goal. Without CCC, I would not be in the position that I am in.”

Amey said Chahal shows that someone in a great position can still have the compassion to help other people succeed.

This is the kind of idea that other businesses should try to replicate, Cherry said. It could benefit the college and the community as a whole,  she said.

Chahal said he is looking forward to working with the college and its population.

“Because I went to this college, I have a connection to the college, and thought no better way to help out than to use skills learned that would be beneficial in the long run,” he said. “We are hoping that students take advantage of this offer.”

Contact Lamar James at ljames.advocate@gmail.com

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1 comments

Linda Johnson

Fri Mar 5 2010 03:01

I think this is a great Idea. When businesses and community work together, there is no goal that cannot be achieved. Lets all get together and Raise Money and help Contra Costa College provide more opportunities within the community. Our college can use funding. Lets get our refund and help raise money for doing something we would do anyways. Thanks Mr Chahal for your continued support to our college.

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