ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 17, 1997 TAG: 9702190002
SECTION: MONEY PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SERIES: Tax Season
SOURCE: Associated Press
Filing a return to the Internal Revenue Service will be as easy as picking up the telephone for more taxpayers this year.
For the first time, some married couples as well as recipients of unemployment compensation will be able to use TeleFile, the IRS' telephone filing system. Last year, only single taxpayers whose income was limited to wages and interest could use the system.
To be eligible this year, taxpayers must receive a TeleFile booklet containing a personal identification number. They must be single or married filing a joint return. They must have no dependents, taxable income of less than $50,000, interest income of less than $400 and live at the same address as last year.
Two other methods of electronic filing are available, even for taxpayers with relatively complex returns: one through professional tax preparation services and the other through commercially available software programs for personal computers.
But the telephone option is by far the most hassle-free. Calls last about 10 minutes. Taxpayers should follow the steps outlined on a worksheet in their tax booklet and the recorded-voice instructions.
Using touch-tone telephones, they answer yes-or-no questions and enter their Social Security numbers, their employer's identification number from their W-2 forms, their wages, federal tax withheld, taxable interest and unemployment compensation.
After a pause, a recorded voice tells the taxpayer's federal adjusted gross income, taxable income, and refund due or additional tax owed. A confirmation number is provided at the end.
Telephone filers this year can have their refund checks deposited directly into their bank accounts. They didn't have that option in 1996.
Some tax services will transmit your return for free if they've prepared it. If you do your own return and bring it in, the transmission fee runs about $40. In most states with income taxes, you can file your state return at the same time.
The preparer must follow up your electronic federal return by mailing Form 8453 with your signature and your W-2 forms.
Personal computer users can choose any of about 20 software packages to both prepare their returns and send them to a transmission service designated by the software manufacturer. The transmission service converts returns to a format IRS computers can read and transmits them to the agency.
The IRS home page on the World Wide Web, http://irs.ustreas.gov, lists the software packages offering this feature.
Computer users must mail the IRS their signature on Form 8453-OL and their W-2s. That's a change from last year, when computer users sent those forms to the transmission service, and should bring the typical transmission fee to about $10, down from $15.
The IRS wants electronically filed returns to become the norm, rather than the exception. They cost the IRS less to process and help the taxpayer by speeding refunds and cutting down on errors.
The agency promises a refund within three weeks, compared with 40 days for a paper return. And there's no danger of information being mistyped by IRS transcribers.
Last year, 12 million taxpayers filed electronically through tax preparation services, 2.8 million by telephone and 158,000 from personal computers.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB