Friday, April 3, 1998 | 10:20 a.m.
* REFUND DOLLARS: As of late March, this year's 37 million refunds totaled $53 billion, up 10 percent from the same period in 1997.
* DIRECT DEPOSITS: Deposits of refunds directly into the bank accounts of American taxpayers are up 15 percent over last year.
* ELECTRONIC FILINGS: Use of computer filings of tax returns are up nearly 25 percent over last year. Nearly 19 million Americans have used this service.
* BAD NUMBERS: Last year, the IRS discovered 2.9 million occurrences of missing or invalid Social Security numbers on electronically filed returns. As a result, the agency estimates it saved $1.4 billion in erroneous refunds.
* NAME WARNING: The IRS says mail thieves look for checks made out to the "IRS." They change the I to an M, creating the title "MRS." They then add a name and cash the check. The IRS is advising taxpayers to make checks payable to the "Internal Revenue Service" not the "IRS."
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