OXFORD,
Miss. – Graduate students from the University of Mississippi’s
Patterson School of Accountancy are participating in AARP Tax-Aide, a
program of the AARP Foundation that has helped people of low-to-medium
income with their income tax returns for more than 40 years.
The
service is offered to the general public 2-6 p.m. each Tuesday through
April 15 at Stone Recreation Center on Washington Avenue in Oxford.
The
students are supervised by return preparers who have had several years
of experience and have also passed the IRS certifying exam, said Tonya
Flesher, professor and Arthur Andersen Lecturer in accountancy.
“The class participating is Accountancy 603, Contemporary Issues in Taxation,” said Flesher, who teaches the class and coordinates the service project. “Working in the tax preparation program is an ungraded service project for the course. Students had to take an intensive examination prepared by the Internal Revenue Service in order to be certified to participate.”
For certification, students must answer correctly at least 80 percent of questions on the examination. Although the service project itself does not affect a student’s final grade, the score of the exam does count in the determination of the final grade, Flesher said.
In the past, the program was sponsored locally by Beta Alpha Psi accountancy honor society and the Associated Graduate Student Body for one or two days during the spring semester, and electronic filing was not readily available. Electronic filing, which allows a quicker receipt of tax refunds, is a benefit that the Tax-Aide program offers.
“Instead of working with facts listed in a homework assignment, students will learn how to gather information from the clients,” Flesher said.
For more information or for assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-7468. To learn more about the Patterson School of Accountancy, go to http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/accountancy .