CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: HEAR THAT JINGLING SOUND? THE TAX MAN APPROACHES (COLUMN 83)

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Eight days and counting until "Tax Day."

OK, if you're one of those highly organized people, tax day brings little alarm. You file your form early in the year when your W-2 form arrives.

Dennis: I'm one of those people. I filed it the night we got our W-2 forms at work. I used the telephone for filing. Both state and federal offer this service.

Joni: I don't know who's scarier: You or the IRS. For most of us, there are few other agencies that can put the chill into your heart and pocketbook like the IRS. And with the recent testimony in Congress, perhaps some of the fear is justified. In response, Congress approved the Taxpayer Bill of Rights of 1998.

Dennis: The Internet can provide a helping hand as to the latest tax laws and information about online filing.

Joni: Let's start at official home of the Internal Revenue Service.

www.irs.gov

My, it looks mighty inviting. A mailbox in the clouds and a cup of coffee. The web design guys have been hard at work at improving the IRS' image.

Dennis: I don't buy it. I still don't trust them, but they have a really nice web page.

Joni: One of the nice things is you can access these sites 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's great to have that information when you need it, especially at the end. The IRS office here is only open limited hours.

Dennis: You can find IRS forms and publications online. There are forms available here back to 1992. The instructions are here as well. Who would have known that Form 2106 existed? The Employee Business Expense form is right here. Do you need form 3903? Moving expenses. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to print out the forms, but it's available free over the Internet.

Joni: If you're a real stickler, you can search the U.S. code for specific tax questions. You can access it right off the IRS homepage. You can also find all the extension forms online if it looks like you won't make the April 15 deadline.

Dennis: To file online, you need special software such as TurboTax. Let's stop at their web page to learn more. You can download a version free over the Internet.

www.intuit.com/turbotax

Joni: TurboTax is one of many companies offering electronic filing over the Internet, but they may be the largest. You can download state and federal forms for business or individual free from this site. It is available for IBM and Macintosh. You can also check the status of your electronically filed return.

Dennis: Anytime there's a tax law change, they put free updates on the web site. You can also read about the tax law changes on this site. They also list off important amounts and rates. Did you know the business travel rate is now 31.5 cents a mile? Moving expenses are now 10 cents a mile. Wow. Did you know a rural mail carrier can claim 47.25 cents a mile?

Joni: Maybe that's part of the incentive for delivering the mail in sleet and snow. Let's jump over to another tax giant: H&R Block.

www.hrblock.com/tax/irslink.html

Look at that, the amount of refunds handled through their agency is going up, up and up. It was more than $9.3 billion when we looked at it.

Dennis: That figure must not include Bill Gates' refund. Can you imagine the taxes that guy pays?

Joni: Probably less than you or I. At H&R Block, you can also find downloadable tax forms. There's also an office locator and a tax refund calculator. Let's take a look.

Dennis: You need to know gross income, taxes paid, number of dependents, type of deduction and filing status. It's kind of interesting to find how much I would have owed if I made more money.

Joni: Is that a hint? Dennis, what are you doing? $51 billion annual salary and married? Quit being a Bill Gates wannabe.

Dennis: I owe $20 million. H&R Block is sorry I have a balance due and suggests I visit the office. I'm not sure they could fix this.

Joni: You can also find a bunch of tax tips on this site, geared to such categories as students, families, military, real estate and businesses.

Dennis: For more information about Missouri taxes, visit the Department of Revenue. They have online tax forms and information about electronic filing.

www.state.mo.us/dor

Joni: You can also find out more about undeliverable refunds. If you moved, changed your name, or your address was incomplete on the form, the refund check may have been returned to the state. A list of all names can be found here, listed by last name. Let's check.

Dennis: This list is long. It also includes full addresses, and how to contact them about how to get their money.

Joni: I filed Monday so I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I know there will be a lot of last-minute filers. I know some tax preparers are even working Easter Sunday. That's a bummer.

Dennis: What's your favorite tax site on the Internet? E-mail us at click@semissourian.com

See you in cyberspace.

Joni Adams and Dennis O'Shields are members of the Southeast Missourian online staff.