Tax-Aide Help Goes Virtual

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide volunteers Bob and Yung Crawford say they’re ready to help people file returns this year, even though there is a pandemic and Yung, 62, is recovering from breast cancer.

The Tempe couple met in 2016, while volunteering for Tax-Aide, and married in December 2019. But this year, while Bob, 63, may have some limited contact with the public, Yung will be working remotely. 

The Crawfords are among  1,100 Arizona volunteers who last year helped file nearly 31,500 federal returns and obtained over $28 million in refunds for primarily older, low-income taxpayers. 

That number will likely be scaled back this year, as Tax-Aide volunteers in Arizona, like those nationwide, focus on protecting everyone’s health and safety while still providing an essential service for those who need it. 

“With the current levels of COVID-19 cases, we’re concentrating on virtual tax assistance this year,” said Geofrey Wolfe, 71, of Phoenix, Tax-Aide volunteer coordinator for Arizona.

With almost a year to adjust to coronavirus concerns, Tax-Aide has developed a series of service-delivery models to safely help taxpayers. These include:

• Traditional in-person preparation, with face masks, social distancing and regular sanitization
• Modified in-person, limiting face-to-face time by having clients wait in a separate room or in their vehicle while their return is being processed

• Low contact, using document scanning, video or phone conferencing, and remote return preparation by volunteers

• Contact-free, in which taxpayers send a digital scan or photograph of their documents to the volunteer tax preparer using a secure email address, discuss the return via video or phone, and have the preparer e-file it.

Adapt and overcome

Although Arizona’s roughly 80 traditional Tax-Aide sites, including public libraries and senior centers, remain closed, Wolfe is looking to open the low-contact locations at churches and other private venues with large indoor spaces, where volunteers and clients can spread out. 

Preparers are trained and IRS-certified to navigate the complex and changing tax code. They can help with many forms and schedules but not with every complicated situation, such as rental-property income.

Nationwide last year, Tax-Aide helped more than 1.5 million Americans ensure proper credits and deductions and file federal and state returns. Those filings resulted in $1 billion in refunds. 

Cheryl Haselhorst, 66, a volunteer at Tax-Aide sites in Phoenix and Tempe for six years, said they’re worried about how their clients have been faring during the pandemic. 

Tax-Aide has fostered relationships among volunteers as well as the clients they serve. Haselhorst started volunteering to keep her mind sharp: “I decided to learn IRS-speak.” 

This year, she said, the community is prioritizing the health of volunteers, as many of them, including Yung Crawford and others, have medical issues.

“Our number one thing is our people, and we don’t want to ask anyone to do anything they don’t feel comfortable with,” Haselhorst said. 

To locate a Tax-Aide center near you, go to aztaxaide.org or call 602-730-0648. 

Miriam Davidson is a writer living in Tucson. 

For More on Taxes:

• 3 Ways to Avoid Tax Scams This Season