Tax-Aide Scope

Reasons Why We Can Not Prepare Your Return

There are many situations that are out of scope (OOS) for our IRS-trained tax counselors.  

Our training is limited and if we are not trained for the complexity of a certain situation, we can not prepare your return. 

If you have questions about whether your forms or situation may be Out of Scope, please ask to speak with a Tax-Aide counselor before making your appointment.

 In addition to the what is listed on the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide Out of Scope Poster,
  some of the reasons we can not prepare your return in San Francisco are:

• Part-Year California residents

• No photo ID.  A photo ID may be a valid driver's license (U.S.),  state ID (U.S.), passport, visa, military ID, national ID

• No Social Security number.  Your Social Security card (or photo copy) is required if you are new to us.

• Civil union. This is due to the differences in Federal and California tax law

• Foreign government pensions.  Exceptions are Canadian and German Social Security.

Preparing Another's Return

In these times of Identity Theft, we must be more careful.

If  the taxpayer is alive, but not present, or if Married Filing Jointly and neither of the couple is present, the return is out of scope unless the person who has the taxpayer's tax documents has a Power of Attorney form with authority to sign for the taxpayer.

This includes a person who wants to have a child's return prepared as well as a person who wants to have a parent's return prepared.  Young adult children have many options for preparing their own tax returns.  If a parent is truly incapacitated, then obtaining a Power of Attorney is recommended.

For other tax preparation locations and options, 

including coaching you to prepare your own taxes online :

   Tax-Aide: call 1-888-227-7669 or visit https://taxaide.aarpfoundation.org 

  or

   IRS: call 1-800-906-9887 or visit https://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/