Taxpayers have until October 31 to decide whether to use the five-year carryback period the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 introduced in March for net operating losses. Since those who filed returns before the law took effect could not benefit from the new provision, Congress is drafting corrective legislation. IRS revenue procedure 2002-40 (www.irs.gov/pub/irs- drop/rp-02-40.pdf) explains related aspects of the new law.

The IRS adds to its Web site a section on fraudulent trusts and other tax-evasion schemes (www.ustreas.gov/irs/ci/tax_fraud/index.htm). To help taxpayers identify and avoid such activities, the Web page also describes recent Justice Department and IRS civil and criminal actions against scam promoters and participants.

For the first time many taxpayers due money from the IRS can use the Internet to find out if their tax returns have been processed and to check the status of their refunds, as well as to resolve any related problems. The new service is available on the IRS Web site (www.irs.gov) to those who submitted forms 1040, 1040-A or 1040-EZ during the 2002 filing season.

The IRS says interest rates for the calendar quarter beginning July 1, 2002, remain the same as for the previous quarter (www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/ir-02-73.pdf). For overpayments, the rate is 6%, except for corporations, for which it is 5%. And for that portion of corporate overpayments exceeding $10,000, it is 3.5%. The underpayment rate is 6%, except for large corporate underpayments (defined under IRC section 6621(c) and section 301.6621-3 of IRS regulations on procedure and administration), for which the rate is 8%. The IRS computed these rates from the federal short-term rate, based on daily compounding determined during April 2002.