Tax-Aide Counselor

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Description: The Tax-Aide program provides free tax assistance and tax return preparation service to taxpayers of any age, whether they are AARP members or not. For 30 years, the local Tax-Aide team has helped thousands of low- to moderate-income taxpayers in Nevada and Sierra counties; last year alone over 1400 tax returns were prepared. Volunteer Position Title: Counselor Position Summary: Counselors provide tax assistance and tax return preparation service to taxpayers. Location: Grass Valley, Lake Wildwood Time Commitment/Schedule: Counselors are expected to volunteer at least one business day a week (Monday for Grass Valley and Wednesday for Lake Wildwood) during the tax season, usually from February 1 to April 15. Counselors may also be needed for two Saturdays, half-day, during the tax season at an ad hoc location for weekend taxpayer assistance. New Counselors are required to attend 12-16 hours of new Counselor training in early January. All Counselors are required to attend 20-30 additional hours of training in mid-late January. Responsibilities and Duties: In a highly supportive team environment and after receiving training, Counselors: Prepare tax forms and/or answer questions to the extent of their current tax training and certification, at tax assistance sites. Review tax returns prepared with taxpayers since taxpayers are responsible for the accuracy of the return. Perform Quality Review of tax returns prepared by other Counselors. Record assistance given and Quality Review completed as per local processes and procedures. Maintain the strict confidentiality of, and protect the security of, all taxpayer information and records at all times. Adhere to program policies and procedures especially those established by the IRS and AARP Foundation. Promote and support the program through word-of-mouth. Qualifications: Counselors acquire tax knowledge through training classes and may also use the online training course along with other online resources (e.g. IRS documents, Tax-Aide reference manuals). Counselors will also be trained in program policy and to properly record assistance given on the activity log. Counselors must pass IRS specified tests for standards of conduct and tax knowledge/return preparation to be certified by the IRS for the purpose of providing tax assistance in this program. After certification, new Counselors will be provided a mentor until they demonstrate enough knowledge, skills and self-confidence to perform tax preparation on their own. Prior tax preparation experience and/or knowledge of tax preparation software is not necessary but is very helpful. Counselors must be skilled in the use of personal computers for online applications and data entry as well as information lookup and retrieval. Counselors must be comfortable working with clients one-on-one and face-to-face while performing services in real time. Counselors must be willing to take, and must demonstrate, a methodical, detailed approach to their work including following the local processes and procedures for tax preparation, quality review and record keeping. And, Counselors must enjoy working in a great team environment, receiving the gratitude of client taxpayers for the help provided and going home each day knowing that because of their hard work our clients have achieved a higher level of financial stability.