UA Center for Ethics Launches Course to Assist Low-Income Families With Income Tax Filing

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — More than 80 trained, IRS-certified undergraduate, graduate and law students from The University of Alabama are providing free income tax preparation services and financial literacy information to low-income families in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham this tax season.

Some 50 of these students are enrolled in a UA service learning course that encourages reflection on policies and attitudes toward poverty while requiring them to commit to the service of preparing tax returns.

The initiative is co-sponsored by SaveFirst: A Tax Preparation and Financial Literacy Initiative and the UA Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility. SaveFirst is a signature initiative of Impact: An Alabama Student Service Initiative, Alabama’s first nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and implementing substantive service learning projects by engaging students and collaborating with select universities and colleges throughout the state.

The UA students are partnering with more than 30 additional students from Birmingham-Southern College, Samford University and UAB to staff five community-based sites in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham for five weeks, beginning Jan. 16, targeting families who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The goal of the SaveFirst Initiative is to train college and graduate students to:

• Offer free tax preparation services and access to checking and savings accounts and Individual Development Accounts to low-income individuals who are eligible for an Earned Income Tax Credit refund
• To plan, organize and administer a series of educational seminars for low-income individuals on savings and investments.

Abusive practices such as payday loan schemes, check-cashing operations and predatory lending target low-income individuals, SaveFirst organizers note.

Individuals who rely on commercial tax preparers simply to access the Earned Income Tax Credit or other tax credits to which they are entitled greatly reduce the effectiveness of these programs, especially if those individuals make use of refund anticipation loans, known as “rapid refunds.” SaveFirst students will provide a better alternative to ensure that low-income families receive their full tax benefits and credits, the organizers add.

The UA Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility seeks to cultivate a willingness and desire in students to take responsibility for the well-being and progress of the larger community, especially through innovative, curriculum-based service learning opportunities.

For more information on the SaveFirst tax service, contact Sarah Louise Smith at 205/348-8200.