DETROIT – The 2024 tax season doesn’t start until January 30, but one nonprofit wants you to start thinking about it now as they search for volunteers.
Accounting Aid Society provides free income tax assistance for people with household incomes of $64,000 or less. They have more than 20 tax site locations in Wayne, Macomb, Livingston, Oakland and Washtenaw counties. This year, they need more volunteers than ever before and want to start training them now.
“Just think, each tax form puts thousands of dollars normally back into the pockets of hardworking neighbors,” said Priscilla Perkins, president and CEO of Accounting Aid Society.
The organization was started by a group of CPAs who wanted to help their community. Perkins said in 2021 alone, volunteers served about 15,000 people in Michigan and now their goal is to help 5,000 more.
“We’re expanding the number of sites we’re going into Detroit Cody Rouge neighborhood, we’re opening a site in Washtenaw County,” Perkins said.
Volunteering isn’t a daily commitment, Perkins said they require 30 hours to be served within a two-month period. She also emphasized that people do not need to be any sort of tax expert to give up their time.
“We provide IRS certified training, our tax services are 97% errorless; we monitor, we have quality control,” said Perkins.
The training only takes about a day to complete.
Accounting Aid Society has more information available online for people who are interested in volunteering. A Q&A session will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14. People need to register online for the session. If you can’t make that session, the final session will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4.
Other benefits of volunteering:
- Attend volunteer celebrations and events
- Build your resume
- Earn MICPA and EA CPEs
- Network with other professionals
- Access to the Accounting Aid Society online store
- Apply for Becker scholarships and discounts
- Access to the Taxslayer software for personal tax filing