'Didn't have a stamp ' not an excuse

The deadline to file taxes is April 15. Now is the time to pull out the boxes of receipts, and clear accounts with the Internal Revenue Service.

But for those who feel overwhelmed at the thought of figuring out how to fill in and compute the various forms, many services are available to make things easier.

A few years ago, the IRS created shorter forms to make it simpler and quicker for taxpayers to complete the federal, 1040-EZ, and state, 540-EZ . Most students qualify for the EZ forms if they do not claim dependents, have a taxable income of under $50,000 and are under age 65.

Instruction booklets and forms for the standard and the EZ methods are available at post offices, libraries, on-line and over the telephone.

Federal forms may be obtained on the World Wide Web at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov, through Telnet at: iris.irs.ustreas.gov, and at their FTP site at: ftp.irs.ustreas.gov. Forms may be requested by telephone between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on weekdays by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM.

California income tax paperwork is available on the Web at http://www.ftb.ca.gov.

Computer software is another option. Intuit offers TurboTax for the IBM compatible and MacInTax for Macintosh which offers step-by-step instructions and automatic calculations. These will also print out completed forms that will be accepted by the IRS and state, Franchise Tax Board, so there is no need to transfer everything back on to the original forms.

Services are also available on-line to help prepare your taxes and will file the return automatically. Parsons Technology is one company that offers downloadable software and will send the completed forms to either the IRS directly or to the user.

The cost is $9.95 and the software only handles 1040-EZ and 540-EZ submissions. The address for more information is http://1040 online .parson tech.com/qualifier/1040EZ.html.

The California Franchise Tax Board has just implemented a new program to file state returns over the telephone called TeleFile. This will instantly register and compute the amount owed or to be refunded. Information is available in the 1996 California 540 instruction book.

Businesses are required to send employees W-2 forms by Jan. 31. These forms can only be obtained through the employer, so employees must contact them directly if they have not already received copies.