European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 17, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters every Winter the ritual is repeated. Millions of americans grab w-2s and receipts and head to the tax preparation office to await the verdict. For most of the people who go to a amp a Block the news is usually Good says Tom Bloch president of the Kansas City mo., company that is the nations biggest tax preparation firm. A seventy percent of our customers get a refund. We do have some people who like to pay in because that show they arrange their finances but the most popular is to get a refund a he says. Block and other tax offices nationwide Are bracing for the second of two Peak seasons in their business. One is the first two weeks of february. The other is the two weeks before the april 15 tax deadline. . Citizens living overseas receive a two month Extension on the deadline a a the Early filers in february tend to get a refund and the customers in april tend to be the procrastinators and the people who owe the government Money a Bloch says. This year More taxpayers Are getting their returns done Early. A i think that a because the Economy is bad. Especially the people who Are getting a refund Are doing it Early because they really need the Money this year a Bloch says adding that the average refund for a Block customer is $900. Conversion rates London up mondays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $346.75 an ounce Silver at $4.10. March 13 March 16 British Pound.1.71180 1.71635 German mark.1.6680 1.6650 French franc.5.6640 5.6585 dutch guilder.1.8792 1.8760 belgian franc.34.44 34.29 italian lira.1,250.85 1,253.30 Swiss franc.1.5105 1.5075 greek drachma.192.63 1 92.51 turkish lira.6,037.50 6,059.80 saudi arabian rtyal.3.7502 3.7501 Spanish peseta.105.57 105.49 portuguese escudo. 143.88 143.66 Canadian Dollar.1.1962 1.1990 austrian schnung.11.755 11.735 norwegian krone.6.548 6.540 danish krone.6.478 6.465 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates concerns the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.63 Marks to a Dollar and $1.76 for a Pound through tuesday based on mondays noontime Price fix Ings. Phone company seeks to Cut jobs St. Louis a southwestern Bell Telephone co. Said it wants to eliminate up to 1,000 jobs by years end through Early retirement offers to Union employees. The St. Louis based company said it has reached an agreement on the offer with the communications workers of America. About 2,000 surplus jobs have been identified throughout the company a territory. Southwestern Bell employs 52,300 workers. Refund anticipation or Loans can Burden taxpayer wallets by Jerry Morgan new Day taxpayers pay an expensive Price when they file their returns electronically in order to get Quick refund anticipation Loans. Unless you need Money almost instantly it does no to pay to get one of the Loans which Banks make to individuals based on irs approval of their expected tax refunds. At first glance the fee charged for such a loan May seem Low but calculated on an annual basis it is an exorbitant rate. For example suppose you go to a tax preparer who estimates you will get a $1,000 refund and charges you $30 to file it electronically. At the same time you Complete a loan application with the preparer affiliated Lender which will open an account so the irs can make a direct Deposit of your refund. If your return is approved the irs electronically notifies the preparer which then gives you the Check minus the fees for the refund anticipation loan and the electronic filing. Then within two weeks  deposits your refund into the Bank account the Bank takes it and you Are even. Though simple the process is costly. Business the ral fee May be $30 for that $1,000 loan which a Bank will advertise As a 3 percent annual rate. But you Are not borrowing the Money for a years time you Are Only using the Bank a Money for 10 Days until it is paid off. The real rate is about 108 percent. If you add the Cost of the electronic filing to that figure the Price doubles. That is on a $1,000 refund. If your refund is $500, the real rates Are astronomical. If the refund is higher the rate is less. Electronic filing of tax returns has grown exponentially since the internal Revenue service started with a test of about 25,000 returns in 1986. This year 10 million or More electronic returns Are expected. Linda Jordan director of Field systems management for a amp a Block inc., the nations largest tax preparer said most of the 4 million people who have filed electronic returns with the company so far this year had sought refund anticipation Loans. A Large accounting company May charge $125 for an electronic filing but Block charges $25 if it prepares your return and $35 if it does no to. Only Federal returns can be filed electronically. Generally irs officials said you get your refund in about three weeks if you file electronically compared with six weeks or More if you mail it in. And this year for the first time taxpayers who owe Money can also file electronically said Robert Kobel an irs spokesman in new York City. They get a voucher from their tax preparer showing How much they owe but have until april 15 to pay. . Citizens living overseas receive a two month Extension on the tax deadline Quick refunds Are not the Only advantage of filing electronically. Such filing is also a Way of reducing errors Jordan said because paperwork does not get lost and because the numbers done to have to be transferred from paper to computer by the irs which can result in errors. But the Cost of filing As Well As the Cost of an refund anticipation loan reduces the refund sometimes substantially. A when interest rates were higher a around 7 or 8 percent a getting a Large refund Back a month sooner meant you might be Able to save the Cost of the electronic filing by investing the Money that much sooner a said Alan Weiner tax partner for Holtz Rubinstein an accounting firm. A but now interest rates Are 3 or 4 percent and it does no to  White executive at Sony sues japanese Boss for Bias from wire reports Newark . A a top executive with Sony corp. Of America has sued the company and his japanese superiors charging discrimination because he is caucasian. John Bermingham filed his lawsuit Friday in . District court. He seeks $15 million in actual damages and $100 million in punitive damages from the Sony corp. Of America new York City based Sony .a. And the Sony corp. Of Tokyo. Bermingham 47, is also asking for $40 million in damages from his Boss Shinichi Takagi president of Sony recording Media of America. Bermingham of Kinnelon ., contends the company removed him As president of Domestic sales and marketing for Sony magnetic products group to show employees that a no caucasian was  Tokyo Exchange plunges Tokyo a the Tokyo Stock exchanges leading Index plummeted monday to its lowest close in More than five years As Selling by investment trusts propelled it below the psychological Barrier of 20,000 Points. The Dollar gained against the yen amid pessimism Over the japanese Economy. The 225-Issue nikkei Stock average fell 618.90 Points or 3 03 percent closing at 19,837.16. That is its lowest close since 19,531.52 on feb. 16, 1987. . Ice Cream is a hot item Washington a it seems the whole world is screaming for . Ice Cream. A whether the current rage in London is mocha Almond fudge or the preference in Tokyo is just Plain Vanilla the growing internationalism of the . Ice Cream Industry has been phenomenal Over the past several years a the . Department of agriculture reports. Foreign sales have increased at least tenfold since 1985, and More than quadrupled since 1989, it said. Last year $41 million Worth of . Ice Cream was exported it said. New superconductor transistor Tokyo a Sanyo electric co. Said monday it has developed the worlds first superconducting transistor that uses Tunnel effect oxide superconductors. The japanese electronics company said the transistor could be used in future highly sensitive microwave communications and in supercomputers capable of very High speeds. But the device in t Likely to be available for commercial use until the next Century. A my the look of inflation Zoya Petrova of the russian Central Bank smiles As she shows off new 1,000 Ruble Bills that were issued last week. But the reason for the new notes is nothing to smile about rampant inflation is chewing up the value of the country a currency and the Central Bank has to Issue larger denominations to replace the smaller notes that Are losing their Worth