During a virtual meeting this summer, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at Michigan Tech approved a $118,000 proposal to support student organizations with tax compliance. The vote took place on Jul. 22, 2025, with funding coming from the USG Reserve Fund. Before the proposal was approved, the reserve fund totalled $227,000, which was nearly cut in half. Since Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) are independent tax entities, they must manage their own IRS filings, something many groups have not been aware of. USG cannot legally offer tax advice, which has left RSOs to learn the complex federal requirements themselves. To alleviate some of the burden, USG has contracted Omega Fi, a professional tax consulting firm, for four years of support.
USG treasurer and MTU student David Reeves says, “We hope that by providing RSOs and student leaders the opportunity to receive professional tax advice at little to no cost to their organization, students can be encouraged to grow their organization within the university and outside as well. The tax-exempt status that RSOs would potentially receive has a large impact, especially as RSOs typically have yearly receipts in the thousands of dollars.”
Of the total $118,000, $60,000 is going towards 100 hours per year of professional tax advising from Omega Fi. $10,000 will be used to provide a dashboard that lets USG and SLI track RSO filing status to ensure all groups maintain their tax-exempt status. Lastly, the remaining $48,000 will offset the cost RSOs must pay on IRS forms, which will lower the financial barrier to entry.
