Office Depot has got a nice freebie for those of you in the throes of tax preparation.

Starting today and continuing through April 16, the office supply store will make copies of your 2011 tax return documents for free.

Up to 25 black and white, single-side copies are free.

The retailer will also shred up to five pounds of confidential documents free of charge.

All three office-supply stores are offering penny deals this week in an effort to get you in their doors to spend what's left of your back-to-school budgets. Here's a store-by-store breakdown of the very best deals on supplies typically on students' lists.

The back-to-school sales remain in full swing this week with tons of deals on school supplies, including some penny deals. Read on for a store-by-store breakdown of the very best deals.

Who can resist a 1-cent sale? That's what the back-to-school retailers are hoping.

It makes for smart marketing, but not necessarily smart shopping. So be careful out there and read the fine print.

Here are my favorite school-supplies deals for the week with the fine print in bold to help you out:

Do your homework before heading out to buy school supplies.

The big sales have begun, but similar to last week, there's lots of fine print to read.

Some of the deals, such as those at Office Max this week, require a minimum $5 purchase. Some involve rebates. Most of the good deals also have limits and are only good while supplies last. So beware.

Here are the best deals I saw:

Chapel Hill Carrboro Chamber of Commerce president Aaron Nelson responded to my blog post about county staff reconsidering their contract with Office Depot because it has no location in Orange County. He alerted me that the chamber itself is poised to sign a contract on behalf of its members for discounted supplies from Office Depot.

"We're using that power of the collective to help our members save money," Nelson said.

Though county staff mistakenly mentioned keeping sales tax in Orange County by buying from Staples (local governments don't really pay sales tax as they get reimbursed), Nelson points out that the county share of sales tax goes to the county in which goods are delivered, regardless of their shipping origin. That means ordering online from Office Depot for delivery in Orange County keeps sales tax in Orange County.

Economic development was the key theme in the spring Democratic primary campaign for Orange County commissioner. The topic recently grabbed hold of some county staffers, who wondered why Orange government has a contract for paper supplies through Office Depot, which has no presence in Orange County.

It seems even county personnel do their shopping in Durham.

"Can we purchase paper from Staples, here in Orange County?" wrote county financial-services coordinator Deb Smith in an e-mail to purchasing-agent David Cannell. "Clarence (Grier, county finance director) would like to see the sales tax stay here in Orange County."

Unfortunately, there's no "easy button" for that. The Office Depot contract is in effect through the end of the year.

It's possible that the school system might have been overcharged on office supplies from Office Depot.

State Auditor Leslie Merritt announced today that he’s probing whether the Office Depot contract managed by the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance charged appropriate prices for $5 million of office supplies to local and state agencies.

Under that contract, the Wake school system is being charged with $454,738 in supplies, the most of any group on the list.