Penn State Law students are offering free tax preparation services to people with low and fixed incomes, people who have disabilities or special needs and senior citizens ages 60 or older.

Tax assistance is offered to qualified residents of Carlisle and surrounding communities through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program sponsored by the IRS. All student volunteers are certified by the IRS and are trained to identify taxpayer eligibility for certain tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Dependent Care Credit and Credit for the Elderly.

From Feb. 4 through April 11, student volunteers will be available from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to prepare and electronically file federal, state and local tax returns. The tax clinic will be closed March 4 to 8. The tax clinic encourages all interested individuals to schedule an appointment by calling 717-240-5130.

The Penn State Beaver Office of Continuing Education has been approved by Penn State Abington to offer a series of courses that meet requirements for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit. Each class will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays in Room 16 at the Student Union Building on Beaver campus. The fee is $40 per course. To register for any course, contact Continuing Education at 724-773-3700 or beaverce@psu.edu, or visit www.beaver.psu.edu.

Farmers should not be paying Pennsylvania sales tax on electricity, according to an energy expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. However, some are, noted Dennis Buffington, professor of agricultural engineering. "While visiting farms over the past few months, I was surprised to see that a number of producers were being charged the full 6 percent of sales tax on their electricity bills," he said. "The bills were for farmers who are on commercial rates (as opposed to residential rates) for their dairy farms and poultry farms."