WASHINGTON — If you are waiting until the last minute to file your federal income taxes, you don't have to rush out to a paid preparer to get it done.

Many communities have free income tax clinics that are especially helpful for people with simple returns if their annual income is no more than $39,000. That limit also applies to several hundred Internal Revenue Service walk-in sites that offer free tax preparation, as well as advice and forms for all filers.

If your income is under $52,000, another free option is the Free File electronic Web site. Access to this site is available through the IRS Web site (www.irs.gov) and leads to numerous private software vendors who are members of the Free File Alliance.

Just need a form? Post offices and public libraries are a good source, but taxpayers are increasingly using the IRS Web site to print out these documents on their computers. Visits to this Web site were up 8.8 percent to almost 103.8 million through March 30.

And there's good news for procrastinators: This year's deadline isn't until Tuesday. The ordinary deadline of April 15 falls on a Sunday. And Monday is a legal holiday — Emancipation Day — in the District of Columbia, which the IRS is required to observe for tax-filing purposes.

If you think you won't be able to file your return by this deadline, use Form 4868 to request an extension, which will allow you until Oct. 15 to complete your paperwork.

The IRS predicts it will get about 9.9 million of these requests, which can be filed electronically. But an extension does not defer the requirement to pay taxes owed. Taxpayers who are not due refunds should enclose a check for their estimated tax or make an electronic payment at the time the extension is requested, according to the IRS.

What's the most accurate way to have your taxes prepared?

For accuracy and speed in getting a refund, an electronic return is best, according to IRS Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson.

If you are not comfortable doing your own tax return — about 61 percent of taxpayers don't do it themselves — selecting a tax preparer who is a certified public accountant or an IRS enrolled agent provides assurance that the person has met certain professional standards required to handle complex returns.

However, there is no national licensing required for tax preparation, and most paid preparers are not CPAs or enrolled agents.

Last year, a survey by the U.S. Government Accountability Office of 19 offices of tax preparation chains found unreported business income on 10 of 19 returns prepared for investiagtors posing as taxpayers. In five of 10 cases, the earned income tax credit for low-income taxpayers was incorrectly claimed.

The GAO study recommended that taxpayers searching for a tax preparer get recommendations from people they trust and check the preparer's qualifications.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department sought a civil court injunction to shut down 125 offices operated by a franchisee of Jackson Hewitt in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., that alleged a pattern of filing fraudulent returns that has led to the loss of $70 million in federal tax revenue.

"Larger preparers need to make sure they are enforcing quality standards," IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said the day the enforcement action was announced. "Ultimately, their reputation will be damaged."

Jackson Hewitt announced April 9 that its franchisee voluntarily agreed to suspend tax preparation services at those 125 locations.