Free Tax Help for the Overtaxed
By Jeanmarie Evelly | April 8th, 2009 | | 
Print
Print
- Published in: New York Daily News
Jeanmarie Evelly
TAKING ACCOUNT: The Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union is among the venues offering free tax help this year. Karen Castillo (seated behind desk) runs the tax program.
Danuta Opala sat on a plastic chair in the packed waiting room at Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union on a recent Saturday afternoon, waiting patiently for free tax preparation help.
She lost her job in February after working for eight years as a clerk in a jewelry store in Astoria. She said there just wasn’t room in her budget for an accountant this year.
“I don’t make enough,” she said. “And I don’t want to spend.”
More people are skipping the accountant this tax season in the hopes of saving cash. The number of people using free community tax services and do-it-yourself filing software are up as some traditional tax preparers are feeling the pinch.
