I wanted to let everyone know of a free service which isnt advertised very much. At my local credit union AARP volunteers prepare the members income taxes by appointment for free. They do this every year. For the past few years I have gone to get mine done by these volunteers. They are very well trained and are required to take many classes of instruction in order to do the income taxes. The volunteers are very thorough, do a double check by another volunteer and even do electronic filing. They prepare all the forms federal, state, and even local. It doesnt matter if you do the long complicated form or a short simple version. This service has become so popular over the years that my credit union doesnt even put up a sign about it. I know this is available not just in my area, its nationwide too. At my credit union, there is no minimum age requirement to get your taxes prepared for free you just need to belong to the credit union. Im not sure how old you need to be to become an AARP member but that isnt necessary either as I havent joined yet. When I turn 50 I will join AARP. Here is a link for more info.

AARP free income tax help

That's good news about the AARP tax preparation. The university where I was teaching also did tax preparation for anyone for free as part of the instruction in the Accounting classes that the students took part in.

I know many of us are living with a reduced or limited income. Its a very nice service AARP does for their communities. Im sure there are many other places that will give free preparations. Anne-Marie, glad you let everyone know. Im sure there are all kinds of colleges across the country which offer help this time of year.

In addition to AARP, IRS has a link to VITA which provides tax prep help to those making $50,000 or less. Volunteers are IRS certified and receive grants from the IRS.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=107626,00.html