By Nathan Eagle
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - With the arrival of tax season, the AARP and Senior Citizens Inc. have united again to ease tax-filing stress for older adults and needy citizens.

The AARP and SCI will provide tax preparation assistance from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays through April 15 at the Hamilton Senior Center, 140 Ross Ave., Hamilton.

"We're all volunteers and there is no charge," said AARP representative Eugene Howard, who has assisted the past five years. "It's first come, first served" at the Hamilton Senior Center location.

Howard said the program is at least 20 years old and there are now 19 sites. The locations operate on different days and range from walk-in to appointment only.

He said his unit will help with nearly 1,000 tax returns this year. They also use electronic filing.

"It's designed by the AARP to assist the elderly to save money for what's more important," he said.

In the 11-week stint this tax season, the volunteers will turn away no one, according to Howard.

"If it's within our expertise, we'll do them," Howard said. "For instance, a small-business man, we might not, but a 50-year-old man, not retired, with his W-2 form, we'll help them.

"We also do it for the poor -- those with very little income," Howard said. "Just the other week someone came in with a $9,000 income, and he got a $3,500 return."

Howard said a final session April 15 at the Dalton Post Office in Cincinnati would probably serve 300 people.

For more information, call 867-1998.