JOPLIN, Mo. — The mere mention of doing taxes is enough to make many people cringe, but depending on what your income is, a tax professional might be able to do them for free.

This is the first time Adam Patasky realized he couldn’t handle doing his own taxes, but he wanted to make sure they were done correctly, the best part was it didn’t cost him a penny.

“I didn’t know about this, until this year, and trying to do this on my own, no, why do you think I have all the gray hair,” said Adam Patasky, VITA Tax Client.

So he came to the VITA tax office in Joplin, housed inside the Great Plains Federal Credit Union on Rangeline Road.

“So for me, this has eliminated a lot of stress and anxiety, things that I used to be able to do, I can’t do anymore and if it weren’t for this, you know, program, I don’t know what I’d do,” said Patasky.

“We mainly serve people that are low to middle income, our thresh hold is 60 thousand, people can get help on federal taxes, state taxes, property tax credit or rent rebate provided to the state of Missouri, so we help people with all of those, uh we don’t have an age limit,” said David Torres, VITA Tax Site Coordinator.

David Torres has been with the Joplin VITA office for several years and says the free income-based tax service prepares more returns than any other single office in all of Southwest Missouri. If you choose to do so, Torres says you’ll need to bring some documents with you.

“People need to bring a valid ID, Social Security cards for all of their family members, and they also need to bring in any W2’s Social Security statements, interest statements, or capital gains statements, or any other income documents that you have,” said Torres.

The service is again being held inside the Great Plains Federal Credit Union at 2306 South Rangeline Road in Joplin, the free tax service is first come, first serve, and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m, through April 18th.