Students To Prepare Tax Returns For FREE At Mott Community College

FLINT (WWJ) - Need help with your taxes?

A group of students at Mott Community College will be providing that help for free over the next several weeks under the watchful eye of their accounting professor, Alana Ferguson.

"We're able to provide tax returns, which includes federal, state and city taxes for individuals in our community," Ferguson told WWJ's Beth Fisher. "To qualify, you just have to make under $54,000. So we're not just targeting low-income, we are also working with moderate income taxpayers as well."

Yes -- students will be preparing the paperwork but don't panic, Ferguson said everything is done by the book.

"My students will learn in a classroom tax law and then they'll become certified through the IRS, and then they actually do it, for real, with real people," she said. "They prepare the returns and I check every single return that goes out the door."

In addition to gaining real-world experience, Ferguson said volunteering to prepare taxes is a great way for the students to give back to the community.

"I really have to push them and motivate them in the beginning. They say, 'Oh, I don't know if I can do this,' but once they get there and they meet with the client, they use the knowledge and skill they've learned in the classroom," she said. "And then they walk out the first day, second day, third day and say 'Oh, what was I so scared of? This isn't so bad.'"

The college will host tax preparation sessions from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. by appointment on February 19 and 26, March 4, 11 and 18, and April 1, 2016. To make an appointment, call 810-232-6293. For more information, visit  https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Free-Tax-Return-Preparation-for-You-by-Volunteers.

Mott Community College is located at 1401 E. Court Street in Flint.