"Time is running out for tax filers to take advantage of the special telephone excise tax refund and other benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit," IRS spokesman Dan Boone said in prepared comments.

"If you don't claim it, you don't get it. That's money down the drain for thousands of Tennesseans."

In addition, many taxpayers also overlook free services available to them, such as free tax help and the Free File program.

Still others lose out by not filing a return at all. Even if a taxpayer does not owe tax and is not required by law to file a return, he may miss out on a refund or tax credit.

Here are some refunds, credits or services Boone says are frequently overlooked:

Telephone Excise Tax Refund - This is a one-time refund of long-distance excise taxes available on 2006 income tax returns. The refund applies to charges billed from March 2003 through July 2006.

The IRS offers a standard refund amount of $30 to $60, or taxpayers can calculate the actual tax paid. Even if the taxpayer does not normally have to file a return, Form 1040EZ-T can be used to request this refund.

Businesses and exempt organizations can also request it. Taxpayers can visit IRS.gov for more information on this special payment.

"Tennesseans have already left more than $12 million on the table by failing to request this special refund," Boone said.

IRS Free File - Nearly 20 companies are offering free electronic filing to taxpayers whose 2006 adjusted gross income was $52,000 or less. That means 1.9 million Tennesseans can take advantage of the IRS-sponsored Free File program.

"Free File users get all the benefits of IRS E-file: a faster refund, a virtually error-free return, and confirmation that the IRS received your tax return," Boone said. A link to Free File offerings is located on the IRS.gov homepage.

Earned Income Tax Credit - Earned income of less than $39,000 in 2006 may qualify a taxpayer to claim the earned income tax credit.

This credit could be worth up to $4,536.

When the EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit.

To qualify, taxpayers must meet certain requirements and file a tax return, even if they did not earn enough money to be obligated to file a return. An electronic special "EITC Assistant" is available on IRS.gov to help taxpayers determine whether they are eligible.

Taxpayers can access more information on this credit by visiting IRS.gov and clicking on "1040 Central."

"More than half-a-million Tennesseans claimed EITC last year, but the IRS estimates that another 20 to 25 percent could be claiming it," Boone said.

Unclaimed Refunds - Refunds totaling approximately $30.8 million are waiting for about 27,600 Tennesseans who failed to file a federal income tax return for 2003.

In order to collect the money, a return for 2003 must be filed no later than April 17.

The IRS estimates that half of those who could claim refunds would receive more than $600. In some cases, individuals had taxes withheld from their wages, or made payments against their taxes out of self-employed earnings, but had too little income to require filing a tax return.

Police say an unemployed suburban mother of five found a quick way to make ends meet: turning her children into panhandlers. Antoinette Jones, 37, pleaded not guilty to endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, at an arraignment Tuesday in Yonkers, a New York City suburb. A judge issued an order that bars her from her five children, and released her without bail.

It was not immediately known where the children were placed. Police said the case was referred to Child Protective Services, but agency officials declined to comment.

Police said they discovered the panhandling when Jones' 11-year-old son was reported missing at a Pathmark supermarket Monday night.

When police arrived, Jones' 18-year-old daughter told them that her mother had made them walk several miles from their home to the supermarket, where they were told to stand outside and beg for money, police said.

The boy returned to the store several hours later; police didn't know where he had gone. The 18-year-old told police her mother frequently forced the children to beg at stores, saying they often picked up $30 to $40 at a time.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Coast Financial Holdings Inc.[ticker: CFHI], the parent company of Coast Bank of Florida, on behalf of purchasers of the bank’s publicly traded securities.

The complaint alleges that defendants violated the federal securities laws by issuing materially false and misleading statements in press releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the complaint, Bradenton, Fla.-based Coast Financial partnered with Construction Compliance Inc. (CCI) to lend money to borrowers who would use the money to construct homes in Southwest Florida.

The lawsuit accuses the banking company of hiding the facts about its relationship with CCI and the true risks associated with the real estate market.

Last month, Washington's State Senate passed a domestic partnership bill, but that state's governor has indicated more enthusiasm about signing it into law.

In throwing out the case's class-action status, the appeals panel also erased the plaintiffs' ability to allege that defendants Merrill Lynch & Co., Credit Suisse First Boston and Barclay's were primary participants in fraud that helped fuel Enron's failure in December 2001.

When U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon granted class-action status last year, her ruling included that the plaintiffs could argue that the banks were primary participants rather than bit players. If a jury agreed, they could be held liable for their own actions as well as everyone else deemed to be involved.

Such a finding could have led to a multibillion-dollar judgment in excess of the $7.3 billion in settlements already reached — the bulk of which came from banking titans J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

The appeals panel ruled that Harmon erred in giving plaintiffs that much latitude, saying the deals the banks conducted with Enron "at most aided and abetted Enron's deceit."

The Securities and Exchange Commission can pursue aiders and abettors, but civil securities litigation can only pursue primary violators.

The plaintiffs countered in today's filing that the banks were at the epicenter of fraud, cooking up financial structures and schemes to help Enron doctor its financial statements.

Spokesmen for all three banks, which have consistently denied the plaintiffs' allegations, declined comment today.

The Department's Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to block the proposed transaction. At the same time, the Department filed a proposed consent decree that, if approved by the court, would resolve the lawsuit and the Department's competitive concerns.

"Without the divestitures required by the Department, purchasers of ready mix concrete, concrete block and aggregate in these areas of Florida and Arizona, including state departments of transportation, would likely have faced higher prices if the transaction is completed. The Department's action will ensure that these customers will continue to receive the benefits of competition,"said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General for the Department's Antitrust Division.

Ready mix concrete is a building material used in large construction projects including buildings, highways, bridges, tunnels, and other projects. Concrete block is a building material used in the construction of residential and commercial structures. Aggregate is crushed stone and gravel produced at quarries, mines, or gravel pits that is used in, among other things, the production of ready mix concrete, concrete block, and asphalt.

The Department concluded that the deal would have resulted in increased prices for ready mix concrete sold to customers handling state Department of Transportation projects and other large building projects in the metropolitan areas of Fort Walton Beach/Panama City/Pensacola, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg, and Fort Myers/Naples, Fla., and the areas of Flagstaff and Tucson, Ariz. In Flagstaff, Rinker and Cemex are the only two competitors capable of supplying ready mix concrete for these large projects, and in the other areas in which divestitures are being required there are only one or two firms in addition to Cemex and Rinker that are capable of serving large projects.

The Department also said that the acquisition also would have resulted in an increase in prices for concrete block for a significant number of customers in the metropolitan areas of Tampa/St. Petersburg and Fort Myers/Naples, Fla., where Cemex and Rinker account for more than 60 percent of concrete block sales.

Finally, the Department said that the acquisition would have resulted in increased prices for aggregate to a significant number of customers in the Tucson, Ariz., area where Cemex and Rinker are among a small number of firms capable of supplying aggregates meeting state Department of Transportation specifications.

On Oct. 27, 2006, Cemex announced its intention to acquire Rinker through a hostile cash tender offer. The offer was due to expire on March 30, 2007, but Cemex extended it until April 27, 2007.

Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, once Cemex obtains control of Rinker, Cemex must divest certain ready mix concrete assets to a single buyer in each of the areas of competitive concern. The terms of the proposed consent decree also require the divestiture of all of Rinker's concrete block-related assets in the Tampa/St. Petersburg and Fort Myers/Naples areas. Cemex must divest two aggregate plants in the Tucson, Ariz., area to the same acquirer that purchases the two ready mix plants to be divested at the same locations. Under the consent decree, the Department's Antitrust Division must approve the buyer of all of the divested assets.

Cemex, headquartered in Nuevo León, Mexico, produces and distributes cement, ready mix concrete, aggregate, concrete block, concrete pipe, and related building materials to customers in more than 50 countries. In 2006, Cemex reported total sales of approximately $24.6 billion. Cemex is the largest United States supplier of ready mix concrete and cement and the seventh largest United States supplier of aggregate. Approximately 25 percent of Cemex's revenues are earned in the U.S. Cemex operates in the U.S. through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cemex Inc., which is headquartered in Houston.

Rinker, headquartered in Chatswood, Australia, produces and distributes aggregate, ready mix concrete, cement, concrete block, asphalt, concrete pipe, and other construction materials through its operations in the U.S. and Australia. In 2006, Rinker reported total sales of approximately $4 billion. Rinker is the second largest U.S. supplier of ready mix concrete and the fifth largest U.S. supplier of aggregate. Approximately 80 percent of Rinker's revenues are earned in the U.S. Rinker operates in the U.S. through its subsidiary, Rinker Materials Corporation, which is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla.

As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed consent decree, along with the Department's competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed decree during a 60-day comment period to Maribeth Petrizzi, Chief, Litigation II Section, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1401 H Street, N.W., Suite 3000, Washington, D.C. 20530. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.