Tax season is here, and while most taxpayers dread the slog through just one return, Carl Kaiser is sharpening his pencil to do more than 130.

For free.

The 81-year-old Millersville resident is one of the veteran members of Anne Arundel County's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, 40 volunteers who staff seven senior centers in the county, helping senior and low-income residents prepare their tax returns.

"The first one I did was a real adventure," said Kaiser, who retired from GlaxoSmithKline and returned to live in his childhood home in 1995. He started volunteering that year.

"They were paper returns in those days, and I made so many corrections, I almost wore a hole in the paper."

Kaiser, who has a doctorate in chemistry, invariably found himself keeping the books for his church and for any other group he joined.

"I have given up my career in chemistry. Now I am an amateur accountant.

"I'd done my own taxes all my life, and I'd been exposed to a lot of different things. I had stocks, rental property," he said. "When the senior center was looking for volunteers, I said I'd like to help with taxes."

Until April 15, Kaiser will spend two days a week at the Pascal Senior Center in Glen Burnie, completing about four returns a day for people who need his help.

"The thing I dread is the shoe box. When someone comes in with a shoe box full of paper, you know it is going to be a lot of work."

His volunteer effort has caused him to realize just how complicated the tax code is, and it angers him that so many people can't begin to prepare their taxes on their own.

"I think it is a shame that people have to pay people to help them pay their taxes. It seems like such a waste of money."

Kaiser has a group of devoted clients at the senior center who return to him every year. And he does the taxes for his neighbors and members of his family.

Computers have made the job easier, Kaiser said. But he and his fellow tax-preparers still check each other's work each day. And they must complete a refresher course, too. (Not surprisingly, Kaiser scored 100 percent on the training test.)

"There are some significant changes this year that people might not be aware of," he said. "IRA distributions, state tax on cars, the standard deduction.

"And last year, people couldn't remember whether they got the stimulus check or not."

The volunteers can prepare the taxes for anyone earning $49,000 or less, with uncomplicated financial issues, said senior volunteer coordinator Kim Quillet. Last year, she said, the county served more than 2,600 people.

The earnings limit is new this year, said Kaiser, who worries that some of his clients earn too much to pass that means test. He likes being able to work for his "return" return customers.

"After all these years, they've learned what to bring."