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- NATION, Page 45American NotesWASHINGTONTough Times For Taxmen
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- Millions of Americans will find themselves poorer next
- month after writing checks to the Internal Revenue Service. But
- as the April 17 filing deadline nears, the IRS is battling money
- problems of its own: a projected $359 million deficit above its
- $5.2 billion annual budget.
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- By imposing a hiring freeze and cutbacks on travel and
- office and computer equipment, the agency has closed the gap to
- $50 million. But as peak season approaches, officials are
- concerned that the tax-collection system might overheat from the
- heavy workload. The agency admits that 1 out of every 3 callers
- to the tax-information hot line is given a wrong answer, and
- some employees have doubled up on their responsibilities. The
- IRS says the processing of returns will probably not be
- affected, although some cheats could slip by undetected.
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