Tax-Aide Counselors

Tax-Aide Counselor recruitment is closed! If you are interested in volunteering for Tax-Aide in 2025, we will begin recruitment in late Summer. Please respond to open opportunities here. 

Volunteer Tax Counselors prepare federal and state (Maryland) tax returns in consultation with tax-payer clients during face-to-face real-time appointments, and at times, via phone interviews. All Tax Counselors are Certified following intensive training and testing by both the IRS (Federal) and AARP/State of Maryland. We work in teams at 18 different locations, including libraries, community centers, and senior centers around Montgomery County. This year's sites include Davis, Damascus, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Long Branch, Twinbrook, Silver Spring, and Poolesville Libraries. Other sites are the Rockville Senior Center, White Oak Community Center, Wheaton Recreation Center, Ross Boddy Community Center, Schweinhaut Senior Center, and Colesville Presbyterian Church. Sites for residents only are Asbury Village, Leisure World, and Riderwood.

Most tax appointments are during the work week.  There are some late afternoon, early evening, and Saturday appointments at a few sites.  We ask volunteers to commit to at least six hours each week during the tax season (first week in February until April 15) although most put in more hours.

Volunteer counselors have a variety of experience; very few were tax professionals or accountants in their previous work. All Tax Counselor volunteers  should be familiar with one or more web browsers, Form 1040 for individual tax returns, and the use of a software package for tax preparation.  More specifically, counselors should be comfortable using a computer on the internet, and should have a general understanding of income and deductions and their entry on 2022 Form 1040. (Details of entering this information on relevant lines on new tax forms for the coming year will be presented during training). If you do not meet these prerequisites, please consider volunteering for one of our other positions.  

Training
 

New Counselors are required to attend two in-person training sessions at the Gaithersburg Library in January. They will be assigned work to be completed before the first session. Because of limitations in the number of new Counselors we can train, completing assignments by deadlines will be critical.

New Tax Counselor volunteers will be expected to work independently to complete readings and problems from the National Tax Training Committee workbook. Google Classroom will provide guidance for this independent study. In addition, Google Meet online meetings will provide an opportunity to review assignments with instructors and get assistance as needed. Google Meet sessions will be scheduled soon. In addition, all new Counselor prospective volunteers will be assigned an experienced tax counselor from the Tax-Aide Program as a mentor. 

For Returning Counselors

All training for returning and/or experienced Counselors will be online for the upcoming season. This means that you must be able to log into and successfully use a variety of required online databases and tool, access the AARP Volunteer Portal, and within the Portal, the LMS (Learning Management System). You will again be required to take certification tests on the IRS site Link and Learn. You must be able to use Google Classroom to do required training, as well as use Google Meet for online meetings. You will need to use your assigned AARP Chromebook for TaxSlayer required cases.

Snow policy for in-person training classes:  As a general rule, if Montgomery County Schools are closed, no tax classes; if schools open late, tax classes begin on time. We do have snow days scheduled if necessary.

Certification

Before assisting taxpayers with their returns, volunteers must receive IRS (for federal) and AARP (for Maryland state) certification by passing an IRS open book exam and a Maryland open book tax exam using TaxSlayer computer software.  Training sessions assist volunteers to gain the knowledge necessary to pass the certification exams and to prepare accurate tax returns.  
 
Completion of problems on both the IRS and Maryland tax exam requires using computers with the IRS-supplied tax program TaxSlayer. 
 
If you would like to get a head-start on the material, go to www.irs.gov and look at Pub 4012 and 4491. These publications and the IRS certification test in Pub 6744 are available on the IRS website. All counselors are certified at the Advanced level. 

Laptop Computers

All Tax Counselors are required to use AARP-provided Chromebooks for all tax preparation. No personal laptop computers will be allowed to access TaxSlayer software. However, your own personal computer may be used to access the TaxSlayer Practice Lab, information resources, and training materials prior to assignment of a Chromebook. 

Mentors

Mentors are returning counselors who help new Volunteer Counselors one-on-one during training and certification. Each mentor will be assigned a prospective Counselor(s) in December. Mentors should complete the certification exams before the start of new counselor training. Please note: final training dates have not yet been set for January 2025.

A mentor attends designated new counselor trainings sessions to help the new volunteers during the session. They should also be available by phone, email, or Google Meet to assist new volunteers as they work their way through various training topics. 

Please indicate on the registration form if you are interested in volunteering as a mentor. Mentors will be contacted in mid-December after we have an estimate of the number needed.