WASHINGTON INSIGHT

FILING CHANGE: More than a third of taxpayers are switching to new methods offered by the Internal Revenue Service for filing income tax returns. The most popular alternative to traditional paper returns is one prepared with a personal computer, using IRS-approved software. . . . Another option: electronic filing, by which returns are sent via telephone modem by a professional tax preparer or “authorized transmitter.” A third new wrinkle, tested in Ohio, permits taxpayers to call in their returns, concluding with a voice signature that the IRS stores on laser disks.