European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 a the stars and stripes business news election results in e. Germany no help to Buck the Dollar might have climbed had last weeks elections in East Germany gone differently. If the social democrats and other parties on the political left had won it was feared that greater social benefits and unemployment Protection would have been demanded before a merger with West Germany. Currency experts reasoned that that would have Cost a lot of Money caused inflation in West Germany and depressed the Mark. Hence a stronger Dollar. But the Victory by the coalition of conservative parties including the Christian democrats left the Mark Strong and the Dollar about where it was. The Dollar was somewhat lowered during the week though by York trading. Dollar watch by Mary Neth new _ a big drop of share prices on Wall Street helped push Down the . Currency As did profit taking by investors. There also were worries of sales by the . Federal Reserve and the Bundesbank and rumours of possible monetary easing by the Federal Reserve Bank. Those factors All combined to keep the Dollar from moving up. Now however according to David Simmonds of the Midland Montagu Bank in London the situation in Lithuania where More Kab Security troops have been moved along the country a Border with the soviet Union is giving the Greenback a bit of a boost. A if Russia invades the country the Dollar will be strengthened a said Gunter Teich of the Bank of Boston in Frankfurt West Germany. But he added a i done to think that is going to  generally the Money experts agree that unless a big shakeup like that occurs there is going to be very Little movement in the Dollar in the immediate future. A next week the Dollar wont be moving anywhere a said Teich. A it will stay in the 1.65 to 1.75 Range  quite a while a he predicted. Roland Scharff the treasurer of the Hes Siche Landes Bank in Frankfurt believes the Dollar will level off at around 1.74 to 1.75 Marks. He is not so optimistic about the future. Quot later on this year when the ramifications of the Der East Germany situation straighten out there will be a Dollar drop a he predicted. He said people will then begin to pay More attention to the problems of the . Economy and its huge budget deficit. A in the first five months of the year the . Deficit already has skyrocketed a he pointed out. A it will be up to $150 billion or $160 billion by the end of the year. That will be followed by a new round of devaluation of the  but the economies of Western Europe also face their share of troubles he said. A the West has brought the Eastern european countries to their Knees so to speak. They just could not compete economically. The russians had to give in. We in the West however Are going to have to Pav the Bill  getting some of these countries on their feet and in doing so May push our own populations into the red  right now All is quiet on the Western monetary front he said. The Only important monetary event on the horizon he said is the meeting of the japanese and american finance ministers in California this week. Scharff believes that the conference will result in a More realistic evaluation of the yen which has been overrated. A a Japan a Stock Market had a nose dive a he pointed out. Neither he nor Simmonds believes there will be a dramatic change in the yen Dollar rate though. A the americans certainly done to want to see a lower yen and the country flooded with cheaper japanese imports Quot Simmonds said. The military Exchange rate was set at 1.67 Marks Friday Down one pfennig from thursday. The stars and stripes irs giving More right answers but responding to Calls less by Jim Luther a tax writer Washington a irs employees Are correctly answering 78 percent of telephoned tax questions they address this year but barely one third of All Calls Are being answered at All government auditors said thursday. The accuracy rate is up significantly from 66 percent last year the general accounting office told the House ways and Means oversight subcommittee. But at this time a year ago 61 percent of callers were getting through to the irs compared with 34 percent this year. A it makes me sick that taxpayer service has declined irs commissioner Fred t. Goldberg or. Told the subcommittee. He blamed a budget squeeze and a sharply higher number of Calls  the problem. Goldberg said service will continue to deteriorate and tax collections will suffer unless Congress approves the full $6.1 billion irs budget that president Bush proposed  the 12 months beginning oct. 1. A if they Cut our budget $200 million its going to Cost the Federal government $550 million in 1991,�?� Goldberg said. Overhaul of the Irsos 1960s-Era computers is essential he said and the 1991 budget will not make up  shortages of previous years. A i am afraid that the tax system will continue to pay the Price of the 1989-1990 hiring freeze and failure to provide adequate training and support  our employees  years to come a Goldberg said. Goldberg and Jennie s. Stathis tax policy director of the Gao an investigative Arm of Congress agreed that the irs is having a generally successful return filing season despite a Lack of Money. Stathis cited these figures a Gao telephoned 20 tax questions to 29 irs offices and scored 1,261 responses 78 percent were Correct. A through March 17, taxpayers had called the irs 31.5 million times and the irs had answered 10.7 million of the Calls. During a similar period last year the number of attempted Calls was far less a 19.3 million a but 11.8 million were answered. A chances of getting through on the first try have dropped to 55 percent from 69 percent last year. A processing of returns is 12.5 percent ahead of last years Pace returns received Are up 3.5 Nerem. Number of refunds is up 16.7 percent. A e a the number of returns with taxpayer err not irs processing mistakes is dropping from 16 Nerem last year to 14 percent this year. The irs save e ers Are responsible  about six of every 10 errors a irs forms and publications Are More Rei Riih available this year. A Check of 13 walk in Sites fo.,2 10 were missing five or fewer of 82 required items the worst Case was one site missing eight items. A a ordering forms and publications by phone can he As troublesome As telephoning a tax question. But once a if they Cut our budget $200 million its going to Cost the Federal government $550 million in 1991 a Fred t. Goldberg or. A caller connects the irs is prompt in mailing request-1 de items within the promised 14 Days. The Agency is j not As reliable  items ordered by letter. Members of the ways and Means subcommittee were i concerned that the percentage of taxpayers being audited continues to decline to Only about 9 per 1,0 returns this year. A a Congress May be forced to mandate a minimum j audit level a said rep. . Pickled Texas chairman of the panel. Goldberg argued against any minimum level but said that with a larger budget the irs might be Able to boost the current level to about 13 per 1,000 by 1993. He noted that about 40 million individual returns with incomes derived solely from wages interest and dividends receive the equivalent of an audit every j year through a computer Matching program. The commissioner said the irs computer system and a Complex tax Law Are imposing an intolerable Burden on the Public. A the greatest Challenge of the coming decade is to make the system More workable  the tens of millions of taxpayers who Are willing to pay what they owe but cannot abide the complexity uncertainty and administrative hassles they face in complying with the Law and in dealing with the irs a Goldberg said. A processing of returns is 12.5 percent ahead of last Law and in dealing with the irs a Goldberg said. Soviets just a heartbeat away thanks to . Dating service by Hilary Appelman members fill out a questionnaire describing by Hilary Appelman Pittsford . Apr say goodbye to the cold War and say hello to love soviet style. With East West differences crumbling like the Berlin Wall a . Entrepreneur is warming up International relations with a dating service that links prospective marriage partners from opposite sides of the Iron curtain. Marie Helborg is the founder and director of Scanna International a a correspondence and introduction club that she runs out of her suburban Rochester Home. Helborg started Scanna in 1980, 20 years after she and her husband moved to the United states from Denmark. The groups membership expanded from scandinavians and americans to other nationalities. Following the rapid changes in Eastern Europe Scanna arranged  its first soviet representative last fall. Already Helborg has about 1,000 members in the soviet Union and airmail envelopes from the country pour in at a rate of about 150 a week. A fall these russians a she said last week. A a we re so  Scanna also has a Large number of polish members and Hopes to soon begin placing ads and operating in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Letters have begun trickling in from would be suitors in other Eastern european countries who have seen Scanna ads in american magazines. Scanna which averages about 3,000 members also matches pen pals but most members Are marriage minded Helborg said. Members fill out a questionnaire describing their interests personality and what they re looking  in a partner. In return they receive photographs and pro-1 files of prospective matches. Fees Range from about $20  a Choice of pen pals to about $90  a selection of marriage partners. Scanna a american members most of them men have shown great interest in soviet and polish women apparently considering them either More exotic or j More Domestic Helborg said. A a they re All checking that j Box off a she said. J a i like cleanliness and order. I Cook wonderfully wrote Olga z., a 31-year-old soviet teacher from. Nakhod a seeking a Man with modern views. Quot a Quot 1 to feel like a woman when i am near  Olga k., a 28-year-old soviet nutritionist from Vlad-1 Vostok described herself As elegant and refine looking  a Strong willed Man who is aristocratic character and soul. A it is Good of you if you understand that attention admiration care and compliments and Flowers Are i great importance  women a she wrote. Helborg said recent changes have made it easy  soviets who marry americans to emigrate some i b that a decade ago would have meant months of y of red tape. She said that she often receives cute s. Christmas cards from correspondents who have a de to tie the knot but that it is too soon to exp hear from any East West couples taking the plunge. Helborg employs one full time staff member and Thrif i or four part time helpers in the United states. A o agents and affiliated groups run the overseas operate