Senior citizens can make doing their taxes less taxing this year thanks to the free Tax-Aide program sponsored by the Amer-ican Association of Retired Persons.

The St. Louis AARP Chapter will provide free tax assistance for seniors weekly from Feb. 7 through April 11 at the Tesson Heights Senior Living Community, 12335 W. Bend Drive, according to a news re-lease.

Trained counselors and volunteers will be present from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays to help seniors fill out their tax returns and give them information about the new tax provisions and benefits they may claim.

Pat Beisel, executive director of Tesson Heights, said the free service is open to all area senior citizens regardless of whether they’re members of AARP.

“We’re encouraging all seniors from St. Louis, as well as St. Louis County and Jefferson County, to come by,” Beisel stated in the news release.

Beisel said seniors should bring a copy of their last income tax return and all current tax materials. To eliminate having to wait for an available counselor, an appointment is required. Appointments can be made by calling (314) 849-1366.

The Tax-Aide Counseling for Elderly Program is the largest of the national association’s volunteer programs, helping more than 1 million senior citizens file their re-turns last year.

The program is a cooperative venture be-tween AARP and the Internal Revenue Service with more than 30,000 counselors volunteering their services at more than 9,000 sites across the country.

This year, Tax-Aide marks its 34th year of providing free personal income tax assistance to senior citizens.