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001 A000000 EVERGREEN TAX FREE FUND
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008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-8327
008 D010001 BOSTON
008 D020001 MA
008 D030001 02116
008 D040001 5034
010 A000001 EVERGREEN INVESTMENT SERVICES, INC.
010 C010001 BOSTON
010 C020001 MA
010 C030001 02116
010 C040001 5034
010 A000002 THE BISYS GROUP, INC.
010 C010002 NEW YORK
010 C020002 NY
010 C030002 10019
011 A000001 EVERGREEN DISTRIBUTOR, INC.
011 B000001 8-395
<PAGE> PAGE 2
011 C010001 BOSTON
011 C020001 MA
011 C030001 02116
011 C040001 5034
012 A000001 EVERGREEN SERVICE COMPANY
012 B000001 84-1571
012 C010001 BOSTON
012 C020001 MA
012 C030001 02116
012 C040001 5034
013 A000001 KPMG - PEAT MARWICK LLP
013 B010001 BOSTON
013 B020001 MA
013 B030001 02110
015 A000001 STATE STREET BANK & TRUST COMPANY
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015 C020001 MA
015 C030001 02169
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022 A000001 WILLIAM SIMON MUNICIPAL
022 C000001 344384
022 D000001 454413
022 A000002 LEHMAN BROTHERS, INC.
022 C000002 332102
022 D000002 364173
022 A000003 PAINE WEBBER, INC.
022 C000003 310637
022 D000003 289096
022 A000004 RAYMOND JAMES AND ASSOCIATES
022 C000004 157005
022 D000004 157911
022 A000005 MERRILL LYNCH
022 C000005 143500
022 D000005 152029
<PAGE> PAGE 3
022 A000006 SMITH BARNEY, INC.
022 C000006 139168
022 D000006 132220
022 A000007 PRUDENTIAL SECURITIES, INC.
022 C000007 119160
022 D000007 76263
022 A000008 MORGAN STANLEY AND COMPANY, INC.
022 C000008 102667
022 D000008 89373
022 A000009 DILLON, READ AND COMPANY
022 C000009 88924
022 D000009 93289
022 A000010 INTERSTATE / JOHNSON LANE
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<PAGE> PAGE 4
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<PAGE> PAGE 9
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SIGNATURE J. KEVIN KENELY
TITLE V.P. FUND ADMIN
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<LEGEND>
THIS SCHEDULE CONTAINS SUMMARY FINANCIAL INFORMATION EXTRACTED FROM ACCOUNTING
RECORDS AND IS QUALIFIED IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REFERENCE TO SUCH ACCOUNTING
RECORDS.
</LEGEND>
<SERIES>
<NUMBER> 101
<NAME> EVERGREEN TAX FREE FUND CLASS B
<PERIOD-TYPE> 12-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> DEC-31-1997
<PERIOD-START> JAN-01-1997
<PERIOD-END> DEC-31-1997
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 1,292,322,540
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 1,373,593,048
<RECEIVABLES> 30,755,522
<ASSETS-OTHER> 265,384
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 1,404,613,954
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 22,858,216
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 6,026,125
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 28,884,341
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 1,288,490,670
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 175,817,106
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 201,937,602
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 467,027
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> 5,501,408
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> 81,270,508
<NET-ASSETS> 1,375,729,613
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 0
<INTEREST-INCOME> 84,530,908
<OTHER-INCOME> 0
<EXPENSES-NET> (13,676,571)
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 70,854,337
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> 37,097,062
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> 2,027,467
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> 109,978,866
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> (73,972,795)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> (17,063,591)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD> 5,057,416
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> (38,141,778)
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 6,963,866
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS> (182,156,179)
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 2,957,507
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR> (13,904,085)
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES> (6,029,348)
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 0
<GROSS-EXPENSE> (13,676,571)
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS> 1,425,784,099
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN> 7.71
<PER-SHARE-NII> 0.38
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC> 0.23
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND> (0.40)
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS> (0.10)
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL> 0
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END> 7.82
<EXPENSE-RATIO> 0.96
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING> 0
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE> 0
</TABLE>
The Trustees and Shareholders
Evergreen Tax Free Fund (formerly Keystone Tax Free Fund)
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of Evergreen
Tax Free Fund for the year ended December 31, 1997, we considered its internal
control, including procedures for safeguarding securities, in order to determine
our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the
financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR, not to
provide assurance on internal control.
The management of Evergreen Tax Free Fund is responsible for establishing and
maintaining internal control. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and
judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related
costs of controls. Generally, controls that are relevant to an audit pertain to
the entity's objective of preparing financial statements for external purposes
that are fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles. Those controls include the safeguarding of assets against
unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal control, errors or irregularities
may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any evaluation of internal
control to future periods is subject to the risk that it may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions or that the effectiveness of the design and
operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of internal control would not necessarily disclose all matters
in internal control that might be material weaknesses under standards
established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A
material weakness is a condition in which the design or operation of any
specific internal control component does not reduce to a relatively low level
the risk that errors or irregularities in amounts that would be material in
relation to the financial statements being audited may occur and not be detected
within a timely period by employees in the normal course of performing their
assigned functions. However, we noted no matters involving internal control,
including controls over safeguarding securities, that we consider to be material
weaknesses as defined above as of December 31, 1997.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Boston, Massachusetts
January 30, 1998
