AARP Foundation Tax-Aide: There are Tax Credits People Don’t Know They Have
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After twelve years of helping people of all ages and walks of life with their tax returns, Sandra Mills says “the thing most people don’t realize is that every return tells a story about a person, about their whole life.”
That’s what keeps her coming back to volunteer with AARP Foundation Tax-Aide. “Meeting people, volunteers and clients,” she says is the best part of her volunteer work. She started twelve years ago after retiring from IBM. She was looking for a way to give back, and to put her education and experience to their best use. A graduate of Pepperdine and the University of New Mexico, she was used to the “long days and long hours” at IBM and felt AARP Foundation Tax-Aide might be a good fit.
More than a decade later she’s served as AARP Foundation Tax-Aide’s local, district and state director in New Mexico. “We serve about fifty thousand people each year,” she said. “We see grandparents raising grandchildren; young people with children; every situation calls for a different approach.”
“It’s good to be able to help people with something that they feel is overwhelming,” she said.
She says there are different tax credits for different situations that many people don’t know about. “People should come to AARP Foundation Tax-Aide prepared to discuss the events of the year.” She said “there are earned income credits, child care credits, 401K saver credits, home energy credits, education credits. All these tax credits do make a difference, and many times people don’t know they’re there.”
The thing she would most want people to know about her work and about AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is that the assistance is available free of charge, and open to adults of all ages. “The younger people,” she said, “don’t want to take precedence over our seniors, and that’s wonderful, but we help young people too.”
“Even if you do your own tax return and just want someone to look over your numbers,” she said, “we’ll do that!”
As soon as the new year begins Mills will be back to her thirteenth yearly training, preparing for the launch of the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide centers in February.
Mills said that people who are looking for the the nearest AARP Foundation Tax-Aide location should visit www.AARP.org/findtaxhelp. “They can find a location and schedule by zip code,” she said.
