Friday, May 3, 2024
An AARP Foundation program is seeking local volunteers to assist Hood County taxpayers with preparing and filing their taxes for the 2023 season.
Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest free, volunteer-run tax preparation and assistance service that provides free tax return preparation for people who want help with basic uncomplicated returns. People with low-to-moderate incomes, seniors, people with disabilities, and those with limited English skills usually qualify for this free service.
“Basically, what Tax-Aide is, we work through the VITA, Voluntary Income Tax Assistance, which is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) program,” said Sharay Boynton, coordinator for the AARP Tax-Aide program. “All counselors are VITA-certified, and we provide tax preparation, not just to those over 65, but really anybody who needs assistance, who has a tax return within our scope of abilities. But what we’re looking for at this time of year is gathering volunteers.”
Tax-Aide volunteers receive specialized training and have the option of serving in a variety of roles — tax volunteers, client facilitators, technology coordinators, and leadership administrators.
Tax Volunteers: Tax volunteers receive free tax training in December and January. Once trained, they work a few hours a week from late January through mid-April, interacting with clients by filling out tax returns. Even if you don’t have accounting or tax preparation experience, becoming a tax volunteer may be right for you if you enjoy working with computers and have a knack for numbers.
Client Facilitators: Client facilitators make sure the clients have all the necessary paperwork before meeting with a tax volunteer and they also manage the flow of clients being served.
Technology Coordinators: Technology coordinators manage computer equipment, work to ensure taxpayer data security, or provide technical assistance to volunteers at multiple sites on technology issues.
Leadership Administrators: Leadership and administrative positions at the local and district levels manage volunteers, make sure program operations run smoothly, track volunteer assignments and site activities, along with ensuring adherence to the program’s processes.
Volunteers will be provided with free tax law training and materials to prepare basic individual income tax returns. Volunteers learn many aspects of tax return preparation and the hours are flexible. Volunteers generally serve an average of eight hours per week from mid-January through April 15.
“We just need people who would like to work,” Boynton said. “We typically work starting the first week in February, through the middle of April, and we prepare tax returns on Mondays through Thursdays at the Hood County Library from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., so it’s not a real long-term commitment. We do some Saturday appointments, and we work around volunteer schedules.”
Volunteer positions are open to anyone local and are not limited to Hood County residents. Volunteers do not have to be AARP members or have any kind of tax experience.
“We actually start training in the middle of November with Zoom or online meetings because VITA requires tests to be taken,” Boynton said. “So, we do have a weeklong in-person training session, but we do it about six weeks prior to that with just those of us that can pop on whenever we can pop on once a week. We’re just looking for people who want to help and want to work in their community.”
Boynton said last year, the Tax-Aide program had about 17 volunteers for the Hood County area.
“I don’t think we can have too many,” she added.
For more information, contact Boynton at sharayboynton@gmail.com. If you are interested in volunteering, fill out an application online at aarpfoundation.org/taxaidevolunteer.
ashley@hcnews.com | 817-573-1232
