AARP Foundation Tax-Aide: “It’s Free”

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To hear Hector Chao tell it, the happiest people he helps are the ones who get a refund.

He’s been a volunteer for AARP Foundation Tax-Aide for eight years, helping people prepare their tax returns. He says he’s seen people bring him shoe boxes filled with receipts, and because he works in Los Angeles he’s helped actors who come to the Tax Aide centers with stacks of $5.00 residual check-stubs.

“It’s not just retired people who come to  Tax Aide,” he says, “it’s neighbors or siblings or sons and daughters of people who have had their taxes prepared by us.” Word of mouth is the best recommendation.

The folks who volunteer with Tax Aide are well prepared. Many, like Hector, have accounting backgrounds. But many others, he says, are engineers, IT specialists and even Judges. “Some of the volunteers,” he said, ” are people who have worked on their own taxes and want to be of service.” All of them, though, go through training and must be certified before they can be an AARP Foundation Tax-Aide volunteer.

What they all have in common is friendliness and a willingness to give back.

Hector was in sales, and before that he was the comptroller for a small company. He lived in Mexico for more than a decade and the ease and friendliness of his native Northern Mexico/South Texas fills his conversation.

“To be honest,” he said, “people come to Tax-Aide because the price is right. It’s free.” He says the process takes an average of thirty minutes. The software they use is provided by the IRS so the filing is seamless. “When we’re done, but before we press the send button,” he said, “we have the volunteer sitting next to us go over our numbers, to double check our work.”

“The satisfaction,” he said, ” comes at the end of the day, knowing that you’ve helped people, laughed with them.”

Hector will be back at it again in 2014. He’s working on his yearly certification; the season begins February 1st  and runs through April 15.

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide has been helping low- to moderate-income individuals for more than 40 years in every state and the District of Columbia.

If you or someone you know can benefit from the services offered by AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, here’s a link to a list of documents you should gather and bring to a Tax-Aide site in your community: http://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-01-2011/important-tax-documents.html