Dan Myers, field director for the IRS Cincinnati Accounts Management Center.

If you work for Dan Myers, you get accustomed to questions about taxes.

Myers is the field director of the Cincinnati Accounts Management Center for the Internal Revenue Service, based in Covington, Ky. The center is one of 26 call centers in the country that provide answers to questions about tax law and account issues. The center also works with taxpayers who write in response to notices and bills and is one of two locations in the nation that specializes in tax matters concerning small businesses and self-employed individuals. The filing deadline for individuals is Thursday.

E-filing didn't exist a decade ago. Has that represented some challenges for the service and taxpayers, or opportunities?

E-filing has had tremendous benefit for the taxpayers. The returns are virtually error-free, and when refunds are due they are issued very quickly. One of the most exciting developments with e-filings is accessibility with home computers. So far this year 10 million have been filed from home, and that is a 23 percent increase from last year.

As far as the total number of participants, this is the best effort. We do have other targeted services that are also popular: walk-in assistance sites, taxpayer advocacy service and a practitioner priority services telephone hot line.

Also, one of the most popular services this year is the "Where's My Refund?" link on our www.irs.gov Web site. More than 10 million taxpayers have checked on their refunds so far.

A growing number of individuals are going into business for themselves. How has that changed the IRS's approach to taxes? Is it a genuine trend, people going into business for themselves?

It is a real phenomenon. And your question highlights one of the most significant changes in the IRS. Three years ago we implemented a major reorganization on a nationwide basis. We have specialized our work force and our structure to better serve specific taxpayer segments.

Those segments are wage and investment income taxpayers, small business and self-employed taxpayers, large and mid-sized businesses, and finally tax-exempt organizations and government entities.

Are your customer-service experts seeing any surprises in the type of questions or the volume of questions taxpayers bring to them this year compared with years past?

Our call centers that answer questions about individual income tax have received a significant increase in calls concerning the child tax credit. The amount of that credit increased for tax year 2003.

Also, refunds are up. The average refund this year is $2,100 and the refund wait is averaging less than eight weeks, depending upon the filing.

John Eckberg