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University Dallv Kansan, April 15. 1983
New tax breaks alter refunds
From staff and wire reports
New federal income tax deductions introduced this year have created a strange pattern in tax refunds to the benefit of the Service official said yesterday.
In addition, he said, those who file for refunds can expect to receive up to $100 of reimbursement.
James T. Manusakz, Kansas' district Internal Revenue Service public affairs officer, said two new deductions had caused annual fluctuations in the number of refunds, but he could explain them by stating that until he analyzed this year's returns.
THE DEDUCTIONS — one that finally gives a tax break if a husband and wife who both work file jointly, and one that allows people with a pension plan to still deduct money in an Individual Retirement Account — should increase the average return this year, he said.
The most up-to-date statistics indicated that the average refund for Kansas residents so far this year was $694, and was expected to rise above
just year's average refund of $721, he said.
More than 361,000 refunds, totaling more than $182 million, have been mailed to Kansans, and more than 50,000 have sent out by the end of the year, he said.
The number of refunds peaked early this year, then dipped in March and is slowly climbing this month, he said.
"TYPICALLY, REFUNDS climb slowly in the beginning of the year because people who know they are getting money back file early and then taper off as people who owe money wait until the last minute," he
Kirsten Andersen, owner of Lawrence Tax Center, 90) Kentucky St., said she had used the two deductions on many of the tax returns she had prepared.
Many people were unaware of the new marital deductions, and others hurriedly opened an IRA, she said.
should immediately file form 1040X to amend their joint return.
Larry Bautdorf, IRS spokesman, said that if employed spouses had overlooked the new deduction, they
Anyone who misses tonight's midnight deadline can get an automatic four-month extension by filing form asss
PAT DUERHSEN, office supervisor for H & R Block, 23rd and Ousdahl streets, said a greater number of the more than 1,000 tax returns prepared by the office had yielded $46 million to taxpayer and of debts to the IRS.
The size of the average refund was larger than last year, but the number of people receiving refunds had not increased that much, she said.
At an IRS service center three blocks from the agency's headquarters in Washington, taxpayers lined up 16-deep yesterday to pick up forms and last-minute advice, a scene at IRS offices around the country.
Police in San Diego have set up a command post to keep an estimated 30,000 cars moving past the main post office between 4 p.m. and midnight. They expect the backup to extend a mile — just like last year.
By ANNE FITZGERALD
Staff Reporter
Peace coalition protests taxes
While hundreds of people will hurry to meet tonight's midnight deadline for filing income tax returns, others will protest the use of federal taxes for defense spending.
Members of the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice will pass out leaflets tonight from 5 to midnight at the main post office, 648 Vermont St.
"Whenever I file, I write a letter explaining that the reason for the discrepancy is that I refuse to participate in preparation for war."
JOHN LINSCHEID, head of the coalition, said that in past years he protested military spending by withholding 50 percent of his taxes, the amount he estimates is targeted for defense.
Linscheid, who is a Mennonite minister, said that as a conscientious objector he was opposed to participation in war of any kind. He said he owed no taxes last year, but in previous years had withheld 50 percent of his taxes.
"I've found monetary participation as objectionable as bodily participation." he said.
Linscheid's brother, who will be a KU law student next year, has his own history of tax resistance.
LINSCHEID SAID that an IRS agent once called on his brother for withholding part of his taxes to protest military spending. But the agent said that because he owed less than $200, it wasn't worth the trouble to seize his bank account.
"Technically, it's illegal to do what we're doing," he said, "but the only cases that have been taken to court are those in which people have filed blank forms or no form at all. They're usually tried for tax evasion or fraud."
Linscheid said that some of the 13,600 current cases of questionable returns involved reasons other than war protest.
Under new laws, the IRS can levy a $900 fee for misstating income, including taking war tax deductions, and raising taxes on unpaid national rates on unpaid taxes, he said.
LUNSCHEID SAID that he had often put what he owed in war taxes into escrrow accounts, but that many people gave what they owed to community or relief organizations. He said that he had heard of people passing out what
they owed to people in unemployment lines.
Anne and Tom Moore, members of the coalition, have taken another approach to protest taxes going to defense.
They have refused to pay the federal excise tax on their phone bills since 1969. They said that about 250 other Lawrence customers of Southwestern Bell had refused to pay the tax at the height of the Vietnam War protest.
Each month, the Moores must send a letter with their telephone bill explaining why they refuse to pay the U.S. tax, which was instituted during the Vietnam War to pay for the war.
"WE HAVE NEVER had property seized for withholding the phone tax," Moore said, "but we've had bank accounts seized."
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The Moores, who are Quakers, have withheld roughly one-third of their tax payment for years, an amount equal to that part of the federal budget that goes into expenses for presidents and preparation for future wars, they said.
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They said that the amount varied from $200 to $1,000, and that some years they had given what they owed to community groups.
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