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 40 years.
The service is offered to the general public 1-4 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.
Student participant Clark Luke of Philadelphia said the
program is a great learning experience.
“In addition to gaining valuable tax experience, we are
also able to help out the community by providing this free
tax service,” he said.
“The class participating is Accountancy 603, Contemporary
Issues in Taxation, and there are 24 master’s students
enrolled in the class,” 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, the 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.
“Some of the returns are more complex than others and
take more time and some are fairly simple and take a little
less time,” said graduate student Charles Allen of
Greenwood, another student participant in the program.
Students are to work at least three hours each over the
course of the service program.
“We have done several practice returns in different
classes, but not any that are actually being filed as these
are,” Allen said. “It’s nice to get some real world
experience before we enter the workforce.”
“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