Volunteer Management David W. Hutchison, SC December 7, 2017
Outline Orientation to the AARP Volunteer Portal Recruiting and Mentoring New Counselors Reimbursements Continuing Education 2
Orientation to the Volunteer Portal Accessing the Portal Portal Overview Site Management Program Metrics Reimbursements Ordering Materials 3
New Counselors Recruitment Through the AARP system Locally Vetting Prospective Volunteers Why vet? Who does the vetting? 4
New Counselors Mentoring, Coaching, Taking Care of Gaps in training Orient to site operations and personnel Pre-season meeting First day (new Counselor observe) Work as CF Screen returns assigned to new Counselor Other ideas 5
Reimbursements The Tax-Aide program authorizes reimbursement to volunteers for expenses they incur for tax assistance, training, and administrative activities Reimbursements are intended to ensure that volunteers are not excluded from participation in the program due to cost While Tax-Aide aims to reimburse volunteers for all reasonable and necessary out-of-pocket expenses, it may be that reimbursements do not cover the total cost of their participation Travel reimbursements are the single greatest expense to the Tax-Aide program 6
Reimbursements Site personnel (Counselors, Shift Coordinators, EROs, Client Facilitators, and Support Facilitators) are authorized reimbursement for travel expenses for Training (Expense Code T) Counseling activities (Expense Code I) Counseling activities are subject to a cap on expenses For this tax season the cap is $500 (about 930 miles) The mileage cap applies ONLY to Expense Code I on an itemized reimbursement request; it does not apply to training or any other reimbursements 7
Reimbursements Flat Rate Reimbursement Tax-Aide volunteers may elect to receive a one-time, flat-rate expense reimbursement Volunteers receive $35 Volunteer leaders receive $50 No other reimbursement is permitted for the season 8
Reimbursements Flat Rate Mass Approval Volunteer Leaders in a supervisory position (LC, DC, SC, RC) may enter flatrate reimbursements for their people using the mass approval form Use this procedure as a convenience for volunteers who cannot or choose not to enter a reimbursement themselves 9
Reimbursements Itemized Reimbursement Use an itemized reimbursement request for site coordination and operating expenses Paper (Expense Code S) Office supplies (Expense Code Z) Travel to coordinate with site facility manager, post-season tax service, etc. (Expense Code B) See handout for other expense codes 10
CE Credits Who can get continuing education credits Enrolled agents, non-credentialed tax preparers, certified public accountants who serve as Tax-Aide volunteers Procedure for Volunteers: Register in Link & Learn, complete applicable fields on the My Account page, and pass the required tests including the Advanced Test The Circular 230 Federal Tax Law Update test does not qualify for CE credits Each candidate must volunteer for a minimum of 10 hours as a tax preparer, instructor, or quality reviewer to earn 14 CE credits If, in addition to the above, a volunteer passes a specialty certification test on Link & Learn, e.g., HSA, he or she will earn 18 CE credits 11
CE Credits Procedure for LCs: Each volunteer must submit their Link & Learn-generated Form 13615 showing their test results to their Local Coordinator The Local Coordinator must complete and sign the Continuing Education Credits section of Form 13615 to validate completion of the CE requirements LC submits the completed Form 13615 to the local SPEC contact NLT April 18, 2018, but do it as soon as the volunteer obtains their 10 hours Incomplete forms will be rejected by the IRS! When approved The IRS will upload the CE credits for volunteers with PTINs to the volunteers' PTIN accounts For CPAs without a PTIN, the Area Analyst will prepare and send a certificate via email For all others, CE certificates will be mailed to the volunteers by SPEC 12