A program to assist people with their taxes has gone live in Oregon. The AARP Foundation’s Tax-Aide program has sites across the state to help people prepare their tax returns, free of charge.
Rebecca Von Stein, central Oregon coordinator, AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program, said the focus is on helping older people but they also assist low income families. Von Stein added they do outreach to other communities in the region as well.
“We have a program in Warm Springs that we have outreach with the indigenous population and we also have a relationship with the Latino community association that we provide bilingual tax preparation for that subset population,” she said.
Von Stein oversees six tax aide sites, including in Bend, Redmond and Warm Springs. She said demand for their assistance is high and in 2023, they helped complete 1,800 tax returns, assisting people who might otherwise struggle to do their taxes.
“Our taxpayers don’t have resources to go to a paid preparer,” she explained. “They oftentimes have no computer skills.”
Last year, Tax-Aide volunteers assisted more than 1.5 million people nationally with their taxes. While the program can help in most cases, they may not be able to help in some complicated situations, such as rental income or returns that involve small businesses with employees.
