European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 20, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday february 20, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 5 tax returns not in Good hands at irs 2 million returns documents lost annually by the Washington Post Washington the internal Revenue service admits it loses about 2 million tax returns or related documents from its files each year. The Agency usually discovers the loss when its employees seeking to conduct an audit make re quests for tax returns or related documents. It is very embarrassing to Tell a taxpayer i am disallowing All of your losses and then ask them to provide a copy of their return because we can t Fin their original return said one irs employee quoted in the Agency wide study. The study does not estimate How much tax revenues lost because of misplaced original tax documents. Among the study s key recommendations retain crucial documents such As form 1040s, inc enters for 18 months after the processing year. Combine the More than 50 different kinds of tax request forms into one Standard form and make on Standard form for logging out documents. Begin a study on How to encourage employees to stay at the irs and How to improve pay grades in the files areas. Put information on How to make a request for tax returns in one Section of the irs manual More than 350 separate references now exist. The study grew out of the Agency s increasing frustration Over untimely handling of tax d9cuments, the report said. It charts a path strewn with misplace files unnumbered tax returns poor storage facilities High staff turnover costly delays and unnecessary duplications. Staff turnover remains one of the irs biggest prob lems according to the report. More than 50 percent of the file clerks have less than 12 months experience i their present positions and 36 percent of their manag ers have been in their jobs less than a year. Many employees Are in the lowest civil service pay grades and As one irs employee quoted put it we lose them to hardens the fast food franchise. Pay is not the Only source of frustration. Frequently irs employees who Are upset at receiving a document not in file response when they ask for a tax return immediately file a second request which might pro Duce the document but which invariably contributes to More backlogs and delays. To be quite honest i generally request a copy of the individual s state tax return before i request a copy of the Federal return from the service Center. Their service is much faster and i m very Likely to get the information one employee in the study said. Irs employees make 41 million requests for tax returns and tax related documents annually according to the study. Taxpayers make another 800,000 re quests often seeking previous returns. Others such a mortgage companies seeking tax documents to Check credit also make requests. But most requests come from irs personnel and Are usually about questionable refunds. More than 6 million requests of the 41 million arc duplicate or follow ups. The internal study draws on questionnaires inter views and a random Sample of 15,000 requests for tax documents in fiscal 1987. Tax records Are housed in 11federal records centers. The irs receives More than 100 million returns each year. In most Federal records centers we found Formsw-2 scattered on the floor the report said suggesting that All w-2 forms be stapled to the first Page of the tax return to keep them from detaching. When a w-2 form is detached it is shipped to service Center where the taxpayer s document locator number is found and then it goes Back to the appropriate Federal records Center to rejoin the tax return. The study shows less than 50 percent of employee regularly log out documents when they pull them in effect making them temporarily lost. The second biggest frustration irs employees face behind getting not found responses to requests for a tax document appears to be the time it takes Roget any response. Delays frequently exceeded 31 Days the study found. Prince Charles plays Benefit Polo match in Fla. Act n a a r re _ a or Vero Beach Fia. A Britain s Prince Charles stroked a Panther saturday before mounting up under sunny skies for a Benefit Polo match before 4,000 fashionable spectators. Charles appeared with exiled King Constantine of Greece and Autler George Plimpton threw out the first Ball. The Prince s team won the match 10-7. Charles scored one goal in the fifth chukker a period of play. The Prince of Wales arrived at Patrick fab during the morning a Day after he met with president Bush and was whisked to the new Windsor Polo and Beach club. He was not accompanied by his wife Diana or their two children on his fifth trip to South Florida since 1980. The Polo match a Benefit for the friends of Conser vation a group that raises funds for african wildlife was the first Prince of Wales cup match. This is so surprising for Vero Beach to have some thing of such importance happen Here said resident Patsy Helseth As she sampled wine under a tent on Tiepolo grounds. It s really a Feather in our  after he arrived Charles mounted a dais for a wild life display conducted by television naturalist Jim Fowler that featured a Florida Panther a cheetah Harris Hawk and a Florida screech owl. Fowler persuaded the Prince to pet the Panther. Before the Start of the match played to a sellout crowd the Prince Cut a ribbon to officially open the still unfinished club. More than 150 bodyguards anti terrorism expert Sand Law officers were assigned to keep watch Over the 40-year-old heir to the British throne throughout his47 hours in the Sunshine state. The Prince and rolex watch president Roland Luton left glance at a Panther held by wildlife handler Bert Wahl. Father rescues 4 children but 3 others perish in fire r thesta Sanc stripes a i v