The tax season is upon us with the deadline of April 15 quickly approaching. Each tax season produces countless questions and concerns about where to find the answers. One resource is our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), MYgroup, that offers a plethora of work-life services to include tax preparation.

To access tax information, log into the work-life portal at mygroup.com using the company username “USC” and the password “guest”. From the homepage, click on Living where a search bar will appear. Type in taxes, and  a variety of articles with tax tips will appear to include “Free Tax Return Preparation for Qualifying Taxpayers.”

This particular article includes resources to programs provided by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), such as Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE). These programs offer free tax preparation for basic tax returns to qualified individuals generally making $57,000 or less, as well as answering tax questions. To locate the nearest VITA or TCE site near you, use the VITA Locator Tool at https://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep, or call 800-906-9887.

When looking for a TCE site, many of the sites are operated by the AARP Foundation's Tax Aide program. To locate the nearest AARP TCE Tax-Aide site between January and April use the AARP Site Locator Tool at  https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/locations.html, or call 888-227-7669.

In addition, the MYgroup Employee Assistance Program provides a link to TaxSlayer, a tax preparation software that includes all the resources needed to file simple state and federal returns for free, although more complex tax returns may require additional fees.

Please take the opportunity to check out these resources for a stress-free tax season.