How to get free tax help on LI before April 15

It's less than seven days before tax returns must be postmarked or e-filed, and the last thing some cash-strapped filers need in the tough economy is to shell out money for tax preparation help.

Val Jozwick, laid off a year ago from a retail position, found a way - just as hundreds of other Long Islanders have - to bypass that usual $200 fee. She took advantage of the Internal Revenue Service's free tax preparation program for low- and middle-income taxpayers, those earning up to $49,000 and filing Form 1040EZ.

Most of the nearly 100 local locations of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program are at area libraries, senior centers and other community organizations. The program has been available on Long Island for several years, but it was news to Jozwick, 41, of West Babylon.

Jozwick said Thursday that she overheard a diner conversation several weeks ago about the program at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, the only financial institution on Long Island to offer the service.

By late March, the IRS-trained volunteers at 10 of Bethpage's branches had filed 853 returns for members and nonmembers, surpassing last year's count of 671, credit union officials said. So far they've garnered more than $1 million in refunds for Long Island taxpayers, said Rob Suarez, assistant vice president of community development at Bethpage.

"How great it is to say we brought back money to the Long Island economy," Suarez said.

Bethpage's program ends Wednesday, April 14.

Low- and middle-income seniors 60 and over get special preference in another IRS-sponsored tax preparation service, Tax Counseling for the Elderly, run in conjunction with the AARP at local libraries and senior centers. But volunteers also help younger low- and middle-income taxpayers.

The service is offered on certain days, at certain times, and some sites are "by appointment only," said Ray Solga, AARP Tax-Aide regional coordinator, so he advises people to call ahead. Help is available through April 15. (Learn more at aarp.org/taxaide or call 888-227-7669.)

The IRS already has about 4,000 partners for these volunteer programs nationally, but is looking to add more partners, including financial institutions on Long Island and elsewhere, said Fred McElligott, regional director of a partnership unit that includes New York.

"We're bringing in the private sector to assist," he said.As for Jozwick, the past year has been "extremely challenging" financially, she said. She owed the IRS last year, but this year will get a $2,400 refund. The volunteers, she said, "made it so painless."