Senior Voice -

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is looking to expand its team of volunteers for the upcoming tax season. No accounting experience is necessary and you do not need to be an AARP member to volunteer. You will learn where to input the information in the program and the software does the rest.

Tax volunteers must complete 40 hours of tax preparation classes that are taught by IRS certified instructors. Materials for the course are provided by the IRS and AARP Foundation. Beginning classes will start in early December with a break for the holidays for Anchorage volunteers.

There is also a need for client facilitators, who greet the taxpayers and help with paperwork if you do not want to prepare taxes.

Last year 112 AARP Foundation Tax-Aide volunteers helped more than 6,100 people file their federal returns. Taxpayers saved approximately $1.5 million in tax preparation fees. The program is offered at approximately 24 sites throughout Alaska at senior centers, libraries and other convenient locations. Volunteers are needed at all sites.

To apply to become a volunteer preparer or client facilitator, please complete an application form at http://www.aarpfoundation.org/taxaide. Someone from AARP Foundation Tax-Aide will contact you.

Tax-Aide has offered free in-person preparation and assistance for 50 years to anyone, especially those 50 and older who can’t afford a tax preparation service. Volunteers make a difference in their communities by assisting many older, lower-income taxpayers and their families who might otherwise miss out on the tax credits and deductions they have earned. Taxpayers do not need to be a member of AARP or a retiree to use this free service.