American Notes WASHINGTON

Millions of Americans will find themselves poorer next month after writing checks to the Internal Revenue Service. But as the April 17 filing deadline nears, the IRS is battling money problems of its own: a projected $359 million deficit above its $5.2 billion annual budget.

By imposing a hiring freeze and cutbacks on travel and office and computer equipment, the agency has closed the gap to $50 million. But as peak season approaches, officials are concerned that the tax-collection system might overheat from the heavy workload. The agency admits that 1 out of every 3 callers to the tax-information hot line is given a wrong answer, and some employees have doubled up on their responsibilities. The IRS says the processing of returns will probably not be affected, although some cheats could slip by undetected.