European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 11, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a a the stars and stripes wednesday april 11,1990 guess who else has Tough time filing taxes he a head of irs la Liilie Detroit apr the head of the internal Revenue service is wishing both taxpayers and his 120,000 employees Many Happy returns but he said he shares the frustrations Many encounter when filing their taxes. A your Job and i think the biggest Challenge of the �?T90s in the Agency is to make filing easier a irs commissioner Fred Goldberg or. Said monday before addressing the economic club of Detroit. A grab any irs employee and  Tell you the same  Goldberg 41, head of the Agency since july 1989, said current irs forms and regulations Are More than even he can decipher a and he has an economics degree from Yale University worked with a Washington d.c., Law firm and has been with the irs for nine years. A the Law is terribly complicated. It is too complicated for the american Public. They deserve an easier system and i deserve an easier system too a said Goldberg who estimated he spent three hours gathering information for his 1990 return to present to a tax preparer. With the tax filing deadline less than a week away Goldberg said the irs is receiving More returns earlier and processing them faster. He gave much of the credit to electronic filing in which tax information is forwarded to the irs by computer. Fred Goldberg or. A return filed electronically this week will be processed within two to three weeks compared with six to eight weeks for a Standard return done on paper and mailed to the irs Goldberg said. Errors appear in fewer than 4 percent of electronic returns compared with about 15 percent of paper returns he said. The irs also is doing its part to Cut the error rate by giving More accurate information to taxpayers Goldberg said. The Agency is giving Correct answers to 78 percent of the inquiries it has received this year compared with 62 percent last year he said. President Bush a proposed 1991 budget includes additional Money for the irs to upgrade service and employee training Goldberg said. He said he hoped new training would help employees a try and keep a lighter touch. By doing that you collect More  but Goldberg said the Light touch he envisions must mesh with a Tough but respectful attitude toward collecting delinquent taxes. A we Are held accountable for collecting revenues and i think we do a Good Job of it a he said. A there Are More than 100 million people out there who do pay their taxes and 1 do think those folks Are looking to us to go after those who  government to freeze assets in cases of suspected a amp a fraud Washington apr the Justice department announced tuesday that the government plans to freeze and seize assets in cases involving alleged savings and loan fraud. The announcement came a Day after the Bush administration acknowledged that its $50 billion savings and loan bailout will not be enough. A congressional report has said costs could be As High As $500 billion. A major problem with a amp a investigations said Justice spokesman David Runkel is that a the assets Are not there following the  the new Effort will try to a prevent assets from being dissipated a he said. In Dallas a Federal Bank fraud task Force has brought charges against 62 people of whom 49 have been convicted the department said. The government has recovered about $12.5 million while the taxpayers have spent a hundreds of millions of dollars to cover the costs of the illegal actions Runkel said. The assets to be targeted could be either those of the a amp is or of the individuals involved and the actions would be a prejudgment attachments a he said. The authority to freeze and seize the assets was part of the a amp a bailout package approved by Congress last year. Attorney general  Thornburgh met tuesday with Timothy Ryan who was sworn in monday to a five year term As director of the Treasury departments office of Thrift supervision. As a result of the meeting Thornburgh directed his staff and . Attorneys to meet with Ryan a people to coordinate efforts. A a there a no question that the Cost is increasing and Well have to take that into account in deciding future actions a White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said monday. Fitzwater was responding to a report by the general accounting office an investigative Arm of Congress that the Cost of the presidents bailout program would be $325 billion instead of the $257 billion estimated Only five months earlier. Comptroller general Charles a. Bowsher who directs the Gao said the Cost could easily surpass $400 billion and could hit $500 billion if the Economy falters. The estimates include the governments borrowing expenses Over 40 years. Ryan 44, was confirmed last wednesday by the Senate on a 62-37 vote. Chicago policeman Walter Tamberlin says he spends about 90 off duty minutes a Day Carine for Rocky. 6chicago police demand pay for tending dogs Chicago apr City police dogs May land in kennels because of a lawsuit by officers who claim providing free care for their four legged co workers is a dogs life. A a we re looking at other ways to Cut  police spokeswoman Tina Vicini said monday. About 70 officers Are suing the City for More than $ 1 million in Back pay they claim they Are owed for three years under the fair labor standards act for taking care of dogs in their department. A Federal Laws Are passed for everybody and the City of Chicago is not immune a said John Dineen president of the fraternal order of police. Since the police dog unit started 29 years ago the City has saved Money by having the canine officers take their partners Home after a Days work. The City provides Small backyard kennels and pays for dog food and the use of police station wagons. But the City does not pay the officers for the time they spend taking care of the dogs. A i have to walk Rocky give him Baths Brush him and a lot More a said patrol officer Walter Tamberlin. A it comes to about an hour and a half beyond my regular shifts. We even take care of them after they be  quench Street Blaze at passover ritual new York apr when a group of hasidic jews set fire to bread in a passover eve ritual on a Brooklyn Street firefighters Rode up and doused the flames. The satmar sect hasidim prayer books in hand protested but to no Avail. John Mulligan a fire department spokesman said the firefighters were right to Hose Down the burning loaves. A generally our custom is to permit Small fires a but when they become dangerous we must put them out a the new York Post quoted Mulligan assaying. Observant jews Burn bread before passover to symbolize that their Homes Are free of prohibited food during the eight Day Holiday. Alaska ins agent warms up to soviets Nome Alaska apr Charles a a Chicks Trainor has what he thinks is the Ideal Job for an alaskan in the age of glasnost. Since february when he became the nations northernmost immigration and naturalization service officer Trainor has enjoyed what he sees As his dual role of Federal agent and one Man welcoming committee for soviets coming to Alaska. A my intention out there at the Airport is to let them know we re Happy to have them Here. None of this a let me see your papers a a Trainor said. With cultural educational and scientific exchanges Between Alaska and the soviet Union burgeoning in the last year Nome has become a major Contact Point for citizens of both countries. Whenever a plane Load of soviet Young pioneers roughly equivalent to boy scout artists educators or others visit Nome its Trainor a Job to examine their papers and stamp their passports. Although Trainor works for the ins his duties include those of a customs inspector. He must watch for the illegal importation of whale Ivory animal furs and soviet Reindeer or any other meat products possibly carrying diseases. The 45-year-old former Marine has a background different from that of most Federal agents. Since coming to Alaska in 1966, he has owned a Saloon scratched for Gold driven a truck run a local housing Agency and worked on the trans Alaska pipeline. He also has been a guard at a mental Hospital. Soviets who visit Nome a Community of 3,600 with Boom town roots dating to the Gold Rush Days at the turn of the Century arrive wide eyed and often gawk at the stacks of consumer goods in local stores. Trainor said. A they think we Stock the shelves just to impress them a he said. Many return Home carrying comp a ers stereos and other items hard to find in the so a Union a especially in the far East. Some stores i Nome accept rubles As a Goodwill gesture although t soviet currency is virtually worthless on the Wor Market. Trainor said he thinks .-soviet exchanges i help break Down barriers to International undersea gang. A a a i see no reason Why we should be fighting them. He said. A we done to even know