IRS LIMITS TAXPAYER SERVICE AGAIN THIS YEAR

The Internal Revenue Service's office in Cape Girardeau has moved from the federal building downtown to office space at 137 S. Broadview. The move was necessitated by the need for additional courtroom space at the federal building.

Although the office is open Monday through Friday and taxpayers can pick up tax forms from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., taxpayer assistance is only available on Mondays and Tuesdays.

As the busy tax season approaches, many taxpayers will wonder why they can't get help any day of the workweek. Last year, the IRS said the limited hours for assistance were due to budget cuts, but the federal appropriation for the IRS had actually been increased.

Perhaps taxpayers should be glad the IRS office here offers assistance two days a week during tax season. The rest of the year it only offers one day a week -- Mondays -- of help with questions about tax regulations.