By Morgan Lawrence

Of the three Texas teams competing in PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Extreme Tax Policy competition (xTAX) this year, Baylor University's team is the only team in Texas that advances to the final round. Twenty-six teams from colleges and universities across the country participated in this year's competition and the top five teams – Baylor, Brigham Young, Bryant College, Michigan State and Notre Dame – will compete in the national finals competition on January 27, 2006, in Washington, DC.

"We're very excited about our team's performance. Certainly being ranked in the top five nationwide is a great achievement and I think that they will be very competitive at the final round." said Dr. Brett Wilkinson, one of the team's sponsors.

Baylor's team consists of five members: Jeremiah Marks, a senior entrepreneurship major from Seattle; Robert Talley, a junior accounting major from Waco; Brinn Newman, a sophomore accounting major from Salado; Brock Hardisty, a sophomore business/journalism major from Indianapolis; and Jonathan Hooper, a junior accounting major from San Antonio. Their sponsors are accounting professors Wilkinson and Dr. Charles Davis. The team was selected to represent Baylor after a local competition that included six student teams.

xTAX teams are a volunteer group of five students who have only two weeks to research a tax policy issue to which no "correct" answer exists and to prepare a presentation that convinces a panel of expert judges that their solution is the best. The case is meant to give students a taste of "real world" tax issues and to develop their interest in tax. This year's case required the students to review the Job Incentive and Growth Tax Action Proposal of the fictitious country of Vastaria and make recommendations to the government on how to improve the economic welfare lf the country's residents and sustain long-term economic growth.

Newman said that because everyone volunteered for the project they could give 110 percent.

"It allowed us to stretch our capabilities beyond the typical classroom Q&A session," said Hardisty.

"What brought us to nationals was nothing but teamwork." said Marks.

Not only did the team split a $10,000 scholarship, but Talley noted, "It is a great opportunity to meet many of the professionals in the accounting field."

"I know that the friends I have made during the competition will last me throughout my career." said Hooper.

According to PwC, in 2004, over 800 students competed in the xTAX. The judges look for the most effective solution to real world problems, not a specific answer. Teams are evaluated on their critical thinking, presentation quality and teamwork.