Arguably the preferable choice out of the two proverbial certainties in life, taxes are never more on the minds of Americans than during the late winter and early spring months.

The City of Chicago has contracted with two organizations, the Center for Economic Progress and Ladder Up, to provide free assistance to low- to moderate-income individuals and families before the federal and state filing deadline of April 15.

In choosing a tax preparer, low- to moderate-income people should have two primary criteria in mind, affordability and competence, says Paul Harrison. A key consideration in determining the latter is whether the preparer has a federal Preparer Tax Identification Number. If they don't, "that's probably somebody worth staying away from," Harrison says.

But in the City of Chicago, "Most low-income people will qualify to have their returns done for free," he adds. "There's really very, very few reasons not to have it done for free, if you can."

The most significant change in filing taxes for 2014 stems from the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its individual mandate. Tax clients will need to bring their preparer "something that proves they had insurance for members of their family, or that they had an exemption from being required to buy insurance," Harrison says.

Those who have neither might have to pay the tax penalty, although Harrison cautions against listening to any tax preparer who asks for a separate check for that-a scenario he has heard about. "If anybody asks to do that, they should get out of there as fast as they can," he says.

Those who have purchased health insurance through the state marketplace should receive form 1095-A, although it's available on healthcare.gov if they have not, says Sarah Cathering White, tax assistance program manager at Ladder Up.

"You will need that form in completing the tax return," she says. "If you didn't have healthcare throughout the year, you're going to owe." That is, she adds, unless your family income is under the federal poverty level, in which case you're exempt.

While there have been no significant changes regarding homeownership, those who have become homeowners for the first time in the past year might not be aware that to claim housing-related tax credits such as mortgage interest deduction, they will need to bring the preparer their real estate tax information as well as their property identification number, White says.

The only significant change that Harrison sees for lower-income people is that the Earned Income Tax Credit has gone up to reflect 2014 income figures. White notes that all filers should make sure they have social security numbers of any dependents they're claiming for the Child Tax Credit, and that they have received all income documents before filing.

Perhaps most importantly, Harrison says, watch out for scam artists. Among the IRS' "dirty dozen" scams are return preparers who have refunds deposited into their own accounts, and those who invent income for teenage and older dependents so they can claim Earned Income Tax Credit. "A lot of people sign the return without reading it," he says. "A general piece of advice is to look over your tax return carefully, and ask as many questions as you need to, until you understand it."

Families earning under $50,000 in income and individuals earning under $25,000 can avail themselves of the free clinics. For more information, please visit www.TaxPrepChicago.org; or contact the Center for Economic Progress at (312) 252-0280 or www.economicprogress.org; or contact Ladder Up at (312) 409-1555 or www.goladderup.org.