AARP’s team of Tax-Aide volunteers were honored with Moorhead’s MoorHeart Award for exceptional service to the community in May 2024. Front row, from left:: David Crockett, Mayor Shelly Carlson, Tim Wodrich, Pat Walker and Karin Schumacher. Middle row: Harold Vanderbush, Pat Kotta, Shirley White, Roxane Doll and Chuck Burman. Back row: Izo Becic, Peter Larson , Jim Westphal, Mark Doll and Cindy Ostlie. (Photo/Caleb Fugleberg)

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Volunteers are standing ready to help local taxpayers – especially elders, those with lower incomes and people with disabilities – meet the deadline for filing their 2024 income tax returns. But the demand is high, say organizers, and it’s important to make your appointment now.
Three programs are currently offering free tax assistance here in Moorhead. Local members of AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons, are once again providing the services than the group’s foundation has been sponsoring since 1968. Sessions are being held each week through at the Moorhead Public Library, the Hjemkomst Center and Fargo’s Carlson Library.
The Lakes and Prairies Community Action Program and Concordia College senior accounting students are both assisting taxpayers through grants from the Internal Revenue Service’s nationwide Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which was established in 1969. The students meet with taxpayers on campus from 6 to 9 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays through the end of February. CAP-LP holds sessions on Monday and Wednesday at its office at 891 Belsly Boulevard, as well as in Hawley on Tuesdays, Barnesville on Wednesdays, and Breckenridge on Mondays and Thursdays.
(More information hours and how to make appointments is at the end of this story.)
AARP’s local assistance program is one of more than 3,600 from coast to coast. Tim Wodrich, who coordinates the Fargo-Moorhead’s 16 or so volunteers. Last year, they provided free tax help to 1,272 people – more than 70% for taxpayers over the age of 60.
“Demand for our services is high,” the retired engineer says. “You don’t need to be an AARP member to use the service. We focus on people who are over 50 and have low to moderate incomes.”
Appointments are required. “We’re usually fully booked for the season by the middle of March,” he cautions. “The call volume currently is overwhelming our capabilities, but our volunteers are doing our best to get people appointments.”
He adds, “We’re always looking for volunteers.” In addition to providing tax preparation as a tax counselor by completing training and being certified by AARP, others too are needed to help with scheduling, greeting clients, managing technology and networking, and being stand-by translators for those with limited English.
Concordia’s accounting department has been offering similar services by senior accounting majors since 1992, when Ron Tvedt joined the faculty. The 19 students enrolled in Tax Accounting II work with taxpayers who need to file basic returns – not, he says, those involved with more complex returns for rental properties or businesses. The students, like other VITA volunteers, use TaxSlayer or other software provided to them by the IRS. All returns are filed electronically.
“Everyone has to pass the VITA certification test,” he says. “Participation doesn’t hinge on academic achievement.” The students receive class credit for their work. Between 80 and 100 returns will be filed by the program’s end on Feb. 27.
For some, the annual tax service provides their first experience of working directly with clients. “It’s a good opportunity to move outside of the classroom. It may be their first experience of this type,” he says. “I tend to hear, ‘It isn’t as scary as I thought it would be.’”
CAP-LP is part of the federal poverty-fighting network, with offices here and in Breckenridge. Alison Bonev, its VITA program coordinator, heads a group of community volunteers and CAP staffers, all IRS-qualified, who turn their attention to taxes during tax season. “Our clients include seniors who are 65 or older and people with incomes of about $67,000 or less, disabilities or limited English,” she explains.
The agency’s program completed more than 600 federal returns along with state filings for both Minnesota an North Dakota. About 440 of them were from Moorhead itself.
Bonev, who earned a degree in psychology, has been involved with CAP-LP for the past year and one-half. She studied tax preparation and was certified by the IRS.
“I love my job,” she says. “I love helping people to have one less thing to worry about.” She adds, “For a lot of our clients, their tax refund is the biggest lump sum they’ll receive all year.”
AARP Tax Aide: Volunteers meet with clients Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 am to 3 pm at the Moorhead Public Library. They are at the Hjemkomst Center on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. In Fargo, they consult with clients each Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Carlson Library on 32nd Ave. S. Appointments must be made in advance by calling or texting (701) 335-6509.
Concordia College: Students will be meeting with clients in the campus’s Grant Center on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. through the end of next week (Feb. 27). No appointments are taken; instead, those seeking assistance are helped on a first-come, first-served basis.
Lakes and Prairies Community Action Partnership: Walk-ins are welcome at CAP-LP’s office at 891 Belsly Blvd. from 4 to 8 p.m. Appointments are needed on Wednesday (1-7 p.m.) and Thursday (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.). Other sessions are held in Hawley on Tuesdays, in Barnesville on Wednesdays from 1 to 5 p.m., and in Breckenridge from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays. For more information and to make appointments, call the CAP-LP office, (218) 512-1500. Or call or write Alison Bonev, (218) 512-1549, alisonb@caplp.org.