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Here’s how to get free help filing your taxes before before April 18

By Sarah Ellis

January 19, 2017 11:15 AM

In this Jan. 14, 2017, photo, tax professional and tax preparation firm owner Alicia Utley reaches for hard copies of tax forms while working to stay caught up on a Saturday at the start of the tax season rush, in her offices at Infinite Tax Solutions, in Boulder, Colo. The IRS will begin accepting returns on Jan. 23, and tax experts recommend that Americans continue to file their returns early. Brennan Linsley AP Photo

COLUMBIA, SC

If your household earns less than $64,000 a year, you can prepare and file your income taxes for free online using a United Way tool.

And if your household earns less than $54,000, you can get free tax help in person through the United Way’s and Cooperative Ministry’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.

United Way’s free website for state and federal tax prep and filing is www.MyFreeTaxes.com, powered by H&R Block.

More than a dozen sites in the Columbia area will offer in-person filing help with an IRS-certified volunteer starting Jan. 30 at some sites and lasting through April 18.

Last year, the volunteers completed more than 6,200 returns in Richland, Lexington, Fairfield, Orangeburg and Newberry counties.

For a list of tax prep sites, go online to www.uway.org/myfreetaxes or call United Way’s 2-1-1.

This year’s filing season for 2016 income tax returns is Jan. 23 to April 18.

This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Here’s how to get free help filing your taxes before before April 18."

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