How One Volunteer Makes Tax Season Easier

Barbara Johnson has always led a busy life. Growing up in Bowie, Maryland as one of 11 children, being with her close-knit family was how she spent most of her time. Even now, at age 70, her siblings still keep her on the go. “They call me all the time, saying ‘We need this, can you do that?’ And whatever they need, I’m always there for them,” Barbara says.

But after a 38‑year career with the federal government — during which she rose from clerk typist at the Department of Agriculture to Senior Budget analyst at FEMA — Barbara retired, and suddenly, there wasn’t enough to do. “I didn't want to be the person that sat at home all day long,” she says. While researching local volunteer opportunities, she came across an ad for AARP Foundation’s Tax‑Aide program, the largest free, volunteer-run tax preparation assistance program in the country. 

Barbara was intrigued. After all, she already had years of experience helping people prepare and file their taxes. Early in her career, she had worked briefly for a paid tax preparer, but she disliked how much they charged their clients. So much, in fact, that she started a side business preparing tax returns, which she’s been running since 1984.  Once she retired and had some more time on her hands, she says, “I wanted to do something financial to help seniors. I thought this could be a great thing.” 

A New Chapter of Giving Back

Barbara applied for and became a Tax-Aide volunteer – and she hasn’t looked back since.  After completing the most recent tax filing season, Barbara has now been a Tax-Aide volunteer for 15 years, working three days a week at two different Maryland locations and bringing cheer to what can often be a stressful experience for newer volunteers and the people they serve. She brings snacks, cracks jokes, and tries to move people through the tax filing process as efficiently as possible. “I like to make people laugh,” she says. “I don’t like them to sit around and wait.”

She even sends her own potential clients to the program, only keeping those whose returns are out of Tax-Aide’s scope. “I tell them, ‘Tax-Aide can do this for free. You don’t have to come to me.’” 

Barbara says she’s “a giver,” and Tax-Aide has brought her many opportunities to give back to her clients. She recalls an older couple (most of her clients are older adults) who brought a previous return riddled with mistakes. While she couldn’t redo the old return, she explained what had gone wrong so they could take it back to the original preparer. After that, she says, the couple always drove to the Bowie Tax-Aide location just to work with her — even though a closer site was available.

In addition to an income tax refund, Barbara looks for other ways to help her Tax-Aide clients find and unlock additional savings. For example, many aren’t aware of Maryland’s homeowner’s and rental tax credits, so she always looks to see if they are eligible. Those credits can amount to an additional $100-$200 refund, which can make a real difference. “That makes me feel good,” Barbara says, “because that money can be used for food or medicine — something they really need.”