AARP helps with tax prep

AARP is lending a tax prep hand to their elderly constituents. They’ve organized over 32,000 volunteers to participate in Tax-Aide. Located in just under 8,000 sites, and sponsored by your friendly IRS, Tax-Aide volunteers help almost two million elderly with their April 15th duties.

Concerned about their know how? The IRS prepares them with training material pertinent to elderly financial issues and goes through local coordinators who have tax knowledge. Retired Mom and Dad can have some complicated returns with part time job paychecks, retirement bennies, and capital gains from their investments, but little real knowledge about how to handle their finances, never mind fill out a complicated tax form.  

Volunteers don’t charge for their help and will even do it on paper, rather than an e-return, and everyone gets a copy for their files. All the seniors need to do is bring in a photo ID, Social Security card and their financial statements, plus last year’s filings and any bank account information including the routing numbers.

For the volunteers it is a great time to use what they know for a good cause. For the elderly filer, it is a weight off their shoulders.