PEOPLE ARE RESPONDING TO IRS PROGRAM FOR NON-FILERS

Some people are sincere about getting back into the tax system.

This is the message from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) one week after initiating a program targeted toward non-filing Americans.

"This has been an unusual week," said Nova L. Felton, public affairs officer at the IRS St. Louis District Office. "Telephone lines have been tied up in some areas with responses to the program designed to help people who have not filed tax returns."

Felton said several people were stopping by to pick up forms.

"We're providing all kinds of assistance," she said. "If someone wants to talk about it, we're willing to listen. A lot of people out there really want to rejoin the tax system."

The IRS announced its program for Missouri non-filers on Sept. 30, estimating that as many as 10 million Americans are non-filers, cheating the government out of at much as $7 billion a year. There are about 30,000 to 32,000 non-filers in Missouri.

"We had good response last week after the initial announcement," said Felton. "More than 170 Missourians contacted us, and we picked up returns from 71 previous non-filers."

People continued to respond this week, added Felton. "We haven't compiled totals yet, but we picked up more than 70 new returns Monday."

The IRS pointed out that the new action is not an "amnesty program."

Taxpayers will be asked to pay the original tax, plus any penalties and interest that apply.'

"IRS agents and workers will help people make arrangements to settle their accounts," said Felton.

"We have had some responses at the Cape Girardeau office," said Barbara Johnson of the local office, located in the Federal Building, 339 Broadway.

"We're urging non-filers to contact us," said Johnson. "The longer they put it off the more interest will accrue."

The week of Oct. 5-9 is "special assistance week," noted Johnson. "But, people can come in next week, next month, or next year. This will be an ongoing program."

For additional information or assistance, she urged people to call the IRS Taxpayer Service, 1-800-829-1040, or stop by one of a dozen locations in the state.

In Illinois, representatives of both the Internal Revenue Service and the Illinois State Department of Revenue unveiled a joint crackdown Tuesday on people who don't file tax returns, holding out the possibility of no prosecutions to lure non-filers back into the system.

"Now is the time for individuals and businesses who have dropped out of the system to get back into the tax system and get right with your government," said a spokesman from the IRS Springfield district office.

Both Illinois agencies said the emphasis on non-filers is a first for them.

Starting in October, the IRS has 280 agents in Illinois fully trained and exclusively devoted to pursuing people who don't file federal income tax returns. Nationwide, the IRS will have 2,000 agents focused on the problem.

The Illinois Department of Revenue is reassigning 50 field auditors to the Chicago area this fiscal year to focus on businesses failing to file sales tax returns. The state will turn over the information it gains to the IRS, on the theory that businesses not filing sales tax returns also aren't filing federal income tax returns.