TAXING TIMES: MORE THAN 50 MILLION TAX RETURNS ARE STILL TO BE FILED

If you haven't filed your 2000 income tax reports yet, you have plenty of company.

With only a week left -- taxes must be mailed by midnight April 16 -- as many as 56 million returns are missing nationally, a million of these from the Show Me State.

"Going into last weekend, the Internal Revenue Services had received about 70 million tax returns," said Ruth Rothbacher, IRS communication spokesperson from the St. Louis District.

Although refunds are running close to 20 percent ahead of last year and average $1,575, it's likely that people who owe taxes make up the bulk of the final-week filers.

IRS officials say it is likely than 45 million taxpayers will submit their returns over the next few days. That leaves from 8 to 10 million who will file requests for extensions.

"Everything has been relatively quiet this year," said Rothbacher. "The processing center in Kansas City reports that processing is going well, with few if any problems."

For the last-minute filers, a taxpayer service representative is available to offer assistance throughout the week at the local IRS office, 137, S. Broadview. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

And, on the final day of mailing, state revenue representatives will be at the downtown post office to answer last-minute tax questions. They also will have extension request forms for filing 2000 returns. However, they will not prepare any tax returns at the post office.

Expect to wait in line

Many post offices are expecting some longs lines April 16.

Taxpayers are warned not to drop their returns at the downtown Cape Girardeau Post Office, 320 N. Frederick, after 7:45 p.m.

Toni Charles, manager of customer services at the post office, urges postal customers to take their returns to the mail processing center at 475 Kell Farm Drive on the west side of the city.

A sign will be placed on the downtown postal facility's drive-up mailbox, reminding taxpayers to take their taxes to the processing center.

But, as in previous years, postmaster Mike Keefe will make a special a trip to the downtown post office facility to make sure all mail in the drive-up box is taken in before midnight.

The April 16 deadline is one day past the normal April 15 deadline, which falls on Easter Sunday this year.

Taxpayers filing for extensions are reminded that even with the four-month extension there will be interest charges -- about 8 percent a month on any unpaid taxes after April 15.

As many as 3 million Missourians have waited until the final week to place their returns in the mails. Going into last weekend, more than 50 percent of Missourians had submitted their returns.

Missourians were split on electronic and paper filings, said Rothbacher.

Taxpayers filing paper returns can expected a full seven or eight weeks for refunds. Taxpayers filing electronically may receive their refunds within a week or two.

IRS help is available by calling 1 (800) 829-1040.

IRS offers taxpayer help

In recent years the IRS has been shifting its customer service focus to electronic media, rather than in-person assistance. Taxpayers are taking advantage of the opportunity to use the Internet, the telephone and other resources to file their tax returns and get assistance with their returns. And the error rate is less than 1 percent with the electronic filing, compared to 20 percent for the paper returns, officials say.

The request for extension forms is a popular one during the final days before deadline. As many as 100,000 Missouri taxpayers could file for and receive extensions.

Taxpayers who are not going to meet the filing deadline should sent the IRS a request extension, using Form 4868, which is available on the Internet, at IRS offices and some banks. The IRS automatically approves such requests.

But people seeking extensions should still pay as much of their tax as possible. Doing so will lessen the sting of interest on late payments. Also available for tax payers is an installment plan, using Form 9465.

The IRS almost always grants such requests as long as the taxpayer agrees to pay $25,000 or less within five years. There's a $43 fee to set up such a plan.