I have an Apple USB SuperDrive, which worked well in the past, but I can no longer use it to read it to install an income tax program. An Apple tech advisor told me that he was not sure but a CD-Rom may no longer be usable in the new OS.

See if this helps.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252214220

How is the Super Drive connected to the Mac exactly?

What happens when you insert the disc into the drive? Can you hear it spin up? Or does it not make a sound?

Is the software in the disc compatible with the current macOS version on your Mac?

If you insert other types of discs, like Music CDs or DVDs, does it work?

Generally speaking Super Drives are still compatible with Macs. But newer Macs can be more picky about what CD's they want to read.

The SuperDrive is connected to the desktop Mac's USB socket as before. I can hear the drive spinning and reading, but after a few seconds, the disk is rejected out of the SuperDrive with no response. I cannot be certain that the CD-Rom is compatible with OS 12.1 as I have already returned it to the retail store, and I have not tried other CD-Rom disks other than the one which was read perfectly two years ago on a different desktop Mac (purchased in 2016) with this SuperDrive, but this CD-Rom was rejected as I wrote. I do not have other CD-Rom's.

Its possible the CD-rom you used was not compatible. Though no way to be sure without it now.