New tax deadline—make appointments now
AARP TAX PROGRAM EXTENDED
The IRS has extended the filing deadline for 2020 federal tax return to May 17. Therefore, the AARP Tax Program sponsored by the Golden Age Foundation (GAF) has extended it tax preparation service to May 5.
The service is offered Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Appointments are required. No walk-ins are allowed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
To schedule an appointment, call (562) 596-1987. Leave your name and telephone number. A GAF volunteer will call you back. People are advised to answer their telephones even though the calling number will not be familiar or may be a blocked number.
After an appointment is scheduled, people will be given instructions on how to pick up the intake/interview sheet and other documents to complete at home before their appointments. These interview sheets will not be available at the LW Library this year.
At the appointment, residents will be required to wear masks and stay 6 feet apart. They will be interviewed on the patio of Clubhouse 3 outside of the new Knowledge and Learning Center across from the LW Library. An AARP volunteer will scan all documents to a secure server. After the documents are scanned, they will be returned to the resident and an appointment will be scheduled for a return visit the following week to pick up completed federal and state returns.
Returns will be prepared and quality reviewed by IRS-certified tax-aide counselors who will be working at home using the resident’s scanned documents. Only the counselor assigned to a return will have access to a resident’s scanned documents. The electronic files will be restricted to view only. The tax aide will be unable to copy, print, share or download the file. All returns will be prepared using Tax Slayer Pro Online software over a secure Internet connection.
At the return visit, a counselor will review the completed return with the resident, who will sign the documents, allowing them to be electronically filed. Once the return is finalized, it will be e-filed that day, and scanned documents will be deleted within 48 hours after being accepted by the IRS and the Franchise Tax Board.
Some returns do not meet the Scope guidelines and cannot be prepared. This program can only prepare returns for full-year residents of California for 2020. People who are married must file a Married Filed Joint return. Returns with rental property or the sale of anything other than a California residence or stocks, bonds and mutual funds cannot be prepared.
New Scope restrictions: The program cannot prepare any Schedule Cs for self-employed individuals. Broker statements for the sale of stock or other commodities cannot exceed 15 pages. Amended returns for 2020 or prior years cannot be prepared. People who received a distribution from an IRA or retirement plan and plan to include the amount in income over the next three years or who plan to repay the amount in three years cannot have returns prepared through this program.
—Diana Lambert, GAF tax program coodinator
