THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997              TAG: 9701100669
SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   52 lines

WANT A QUICKER TAX REFUND? JUST PICK UP THE PHONE

For taxpayers hoping for quick refunds this year, the Internal Revenue Service has a suggestion: file your tax return by telephone.

After sending instructions and worksheets to 26 million people, including 520,000 in Virginia, the IRS opened its ``file-by-phone'' service Thursday.

Taxpayers owed refunds can expect to receive their money within three weeks if they use this service, said Judith M. Bartel, a spokeswoman in the IRS's Richmond regional office. When the IRS processes a paper return, it takes six weeks or longer.

Available on a limited basis last year, the IRS Telefile program was designed to simplify the filing process and eliminate paperwork, Bartel said. That means greater accuracy and lower overhead at the IRS, she added.

The automated system prompts each caller to punch details about his or her income into a touch-tone phone. An IRS computer calculates how much the caller owes or how much of a refund is due. Users of the Telefile system who owe taxes still must pay them by April 15.

For most individuals, the process will take slightly more than a half-hour, including 10 minutes on the phone, Bartel said. The automated filing system operates around the clock.

However, it's available only to individuals with simple tax returns, those who used a 1040EZ form in the past.

This includes people with income from wages, salaries, tips, unemployment compensation, taxable scholarship and no more than $400 of taxable interest. All of their income must be shown on the W-2 forms, but taxpayers using the Telefile service don't have to send these forms to the IRS.

The service is available to single individuals and to married couples who have no dependents and are filing a joint return.

One group the IRS hopes to attract with the TeleFile program is students. ``There are a lot of college students working at part-time jobs or during the summer who meet the profile of a 1040EZ-user,'' the IRS's Bartel said.

Taxpayers eligible to use the file-by-phone system will receive a Telefile worksheet from the IRS with an identification number that her or she has to use when calling the service. If the document is misplaced, the taxpayer will have to submit a paper tax return because the IRS won't re-issue the Telefile forms, Bartel said.

Taxpayers seeking help with the Telefile program or other tax-return matters can call the IRS toll-free at 1-800-829-1040. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Individuals who plan to file simple returns can do it on the phone

in about 10 minutes. But they must fill out a worksheet before

calling. Refunds should be back within three weeks.

KEYWORDS: INCOME TAX INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE