ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996           TAG: 9602280052
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-8  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON

IT'S STILL A TAX RETURN, AND IT'S STILL NO FUN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Federal tax filing is lagging despite the popularity of telephone and computer filing.

The Internal Revenue Service said that through Feb. 16 it had received 26.2 million tax returns, down 6.5 percent from the same period a year ago.

Despite the lag in returns, the number of refunds - 8.28 million - is up 3 percent. The average refund so far is $1,448, compared with $1,117 during the same period last year.

Deborah Hill, assistant district manager of H&R Block in Roanoke, said return preparation is a little bit behind last year.

She attributed the lag to the effects of this winter's snow storms; bad weather delayed processing of W-2 and other tax forms and prevented people from getting to H&R Block as early as usual.

However, Valerie Kowalski, a certified public accountant with Kowalski Associates in Roanoke, said return preparation at her office is running 17 to 18 percent ahead of last year.

That increase, she said, represented both more new clients and more people coming in earlier.

Telephone filing - available to eligible taxpayers nationwide for the first time this year - totaled 1.79 million through mid-February, nearly quadruple last year when it was available on a more limited basis.

Telephone filing is available to single taxpayers who receive a Telefile package in the mail and who otherwise would use Form 1040EZ.

Staff writer Mag Poff contributed to this story.

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