Income Tax Forms

Trained volunteer tax counselors will be available to help senior citizens 55 or over prepare their income tax forms Feb. 3 through April 14 at the Irvine Senior Center, 3 Sandburg Way, Irvine. Counselors will help with federal and state personal income forms from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays, by appointment only. Participants should book at least two days in advance.

Lynne Meredith, an antitax activist who speaks frequently at seminars across the country, once boasted that she has never paid income taxes and hasn't received so much as a letter or phone call from the Internal Revenue Service. All that changed Monday, however, when federal authorities chose the tax-filing deadline to arrest Meredith and six colleagues on charges that they bilked victims out of more than $6 million in a worldwide tax fraud scam.

Former U.S. Rep. Nicholas Mavroules (D-Mass.) was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months in prison and fined $15,000 for accepting illegal gifts and failing to report them on congressional disclosure and income tax forms.

Income tax help for seniors, the disabled and low-income residents can be found at the Cypress library every Saturday beginning this weekend through April 8. IRS-certified volunteers will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help with filing state and federal income tax forms. Information: (714) 826-0350.

Income tax help for seniors, the disabled and low-income residents can be found at the Cypress library every Saturday beginning this weekend through April 8. IRS-certified volunteers will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help with filing state and federal income tax forms. Information: (714) 826-0350.

Federal income tax forms should be arriving in taxpayers' mailboxes this week, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday. The mailing of the forms, which occurs every year at about this time, has not been affected by the partial government shutdown resulting from the budget impasse between President Clinton and Congress, spokesman Wilson Fadley said. An appropriations bill funding the Treasury Department and the IRS was signed into law by Clinton last month.

Free help with state and federal personal income tax forms will be available for the second year at Mission College's walk-in Tax Assistance Center, school officials said. Starting this week, tax forms will be processed between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. each Saturday until the April 15 filing deadline. No appointments are required and the service is open to everyone, said Mission business professor Stan Chow.

Free preparation of federal and state income tax forms is being offered to low-income, elderly, handicapped or non-English-speaking residents through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. Sessions began last week and will continue through April. In the San Gabriel Valley, the sessions are scheduled: * Bruggemeyer Memorial Library, 318 S. Ramona Ave., Monterey Park, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays. * East Los Angeles Neighborhood Center, 33 N. Sunol Drive, from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays.

A program to help elderly taxpayers with income tax forms will be offered on Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon at the Seal Beach Senior Center, 707 Electric Ave. Led by trained volunteers, the program is open to anyone 60 or older. Participants should bring tax returns from the previous years as well as all current forms. Those who receive Social Security benefits should also bring the 1099-SSA form from the Social Security Administration.

Free assistance with income tax forms will be available Saturdays at the Brea Library from Feb. 7 through April 11. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program uses trained community volunteers to help with basic income tax preparation. The program is particularly geared toward elderly, low-income and non-English-speaking residents. Those who wish to participate are asked to bring all pertinent information and forms. The Brea Library is at 1 Civic Center Circle.

Q: We purchased a 26-foot Class C motor home this year. The salesman told us the interest on our loan would be deductible just as if it were a second home. Other people say this is not so. Can you clarify this? A: IRS rules state that a personal residence generally includes a house, condominium, mobile home, boat or house trailer that contains sleeping space, toilet and cooking facilities.

The percentage of Americans who say federal taxes have gotten too complicated has increased significantly over the last three years to almost two-thirds, according to an Associated Press poll. The Internal Revenue Service acknowledges that an array of new tax credits, deductions and other changes in the law has lengthened by several hours the time it takes to fill out an itemized tax return. In a poll for the AP by ICR of Media, Pa.

As the holiday season draws to a close, Americans start thinking about the less festive task of filling out income-tax forms, which will arrive in many mailboxes next week. Millions of middle-class people, especially parents with school-age children, plan to improve their bottom lines by taking advantage of new tax breaks. A $400 credit for each child under age 17 highlights several changes for the 1998 tax year intended by Congress to benefit people with moderate incomes.

Beginning today, people earning $40,000 or less a year, minorities or those with disabilities can receive free help in preparing their federal and state income tax forms from Cal State Northridge students through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. More than 300 CSUN student volunteers will help people at 18 VITA centers in the Valley and Los Angeles.

Free assistance with income tax forms will be available Saturdays at the Brea Library from Feb. 7 through April 11. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program uses trained community volunteers to help with basic income tax preparation. The program is particularly geared toward elderly, low-income and non-English-speaking residents. Those who wish to participate are asked to bring all pertinent information and forms. The Brea Library is at 1 Civic Center Circle.

In one of the biggest tax cases involving employees at a single company, the IRS is seeking back taxes and hefty penalties from more than 300 employees at computer distribution giant Ingram Micro Inc. for failing to report bonuses as income. The agency has targeted 200 salespeople at Ingram's Santa Ana headquarters for civil action, said Michael S. Kochmanski, regional chief for criminal investigations.

Like many of us, Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum recently filled out his income tax forms and wasn't too happy about wrestling with what he called "the most complicated, obtuse, incomprehensible documents ever perpetrated on the public." But rather than just grouse about it, Schabarum persuaded his fellow board members on Tuesday to protest the new forms and to urge Congress and the President to enact a new tax reform law.

Free help with state and federal personal income tax forms will be available for the second year at Mission College's walk-in Tax Assistance Center, school officials said. Starting this week, tax forms will be processed between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. each Saturday until the April 15 filing deadline. No appointments are required and the service is open to everyone, said Mission business professor Stan Chow.