ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 29, 1993                   TAG: 9312290077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short


IRS FORMS ON THE WAY, BUT TRY NOT TO GET TOO EXCITED

Coming to your mailbox next week: the 1993 federal income tax forms, courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service.

Just in time to dampen holiday joy, IRS Commissioner Margaret Richardson launched tax season Tuesday with a cheerful preview of "what is new and exciting" in taxland.

What's new: higher income tax rates, thanks to President Clinton's tax-and-deficit-reduction package - but the higher rates will hit only 2 percent of Americans, Richardson said. For most taxpayers, the rates are unchanged.

What's exciting: tax forms in Spanish. ( Saludos, es tiempo para pagar! - Greetings, it's time to pay!) For now, this is a test program, with Spanish forms available only in south Florida and southern California.

Also new: more ways to file your income taxes. A telephone-filing system will be available in seven states (Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia) for taxpayers who use form 1040EZ.

More new stuff: the $1 checkoff for presidential elections has been boosted to a $3 checkoff. Also, married couples without children can use form 1040EZ if they earn less than $50,000 a year.

The IRS estimates that 117 million Americans will file 1993 federal income returns - and another 7.5 million should, but won't.



 by CNB