Service offers tax help to Sept. 11 victims

Columbia County-based income tax service Rhodes-Murphy is offering free income tax preparation and filing for residents of Washington and New York City who were affected by the Sept. 11 tragedy.

"We are keenly aware of the traumatic consequences and lingering pain that the people in these two areas still experience," said Jimmy Rhodes, president of TaxSlayer.com. "We ... hope that this program will make life a little easier, at least when it comes to filing individual income tax returns."

Parent company Rhodes Financial Services Inc. developed the TaxSlayer tax preparation software in 1991. TaxSlayer Individual 2001 is available at no charge, but the company charges $9.95 to electronically file the return.

The company will waive the fee to file state and federal returns for people living in specified areas of Manhattan and Washington. The company's offer extends to 725,356 households in New York and 249,964 households in Washington.

Located on Ronald Regan Drive, Rhodes-Murphy is a division of Rhodes Financial Services, a full-service financial planning, investment, insurance, mortgage and tax-consulting firm.

Web site: For more information, go to www.TaxSlayer.com/irs911.