Now that the new year is here, it's time to start thinking about income taxes.

True, you still have until April 15 to file your returns, but thousands of Missourians will be sending their 1040 forms to the IRS a lot sooner.

Nova Felton, public affairs officer for the IRS in St. Louis, said, "Believe it or not, we have quite a few people who file their income taxes in January."

Not surprisingly, most early-bird tax filers will be getting money back from Uncle Sam.

Last year, Felton said, 4,800 returns were filed in January a high number considering employers have until Jan. 31 to make W2 forms available.

In February the number jumps.

"By March 1 last year, 101,702 refunds had been issued," Felton said. Those refunds to Missourians totaled over $95 million.

If you file early, Felton said, "You can almost be assured of getting your refund check within three to four weeks." She said, "I electronically filed last year and got mine in nine days."

However, she said, the busiest day for the IRS is still April 16. "Even those who are getting refunds wait until the last minute," Felton said. "I guess people just will procrastinate."

The IRS has established a non-filer program to encourage individuals who have not filed returns to start. "Over 40 percent of those in the non-filer program were getting refunds," she said.

Marvin Miller, a certified public accountant with Miller Accounting and Financial Services, said as soon as electronic filing opens Jan. 15, a number of his clients will be ready to file.

"Most of those who will be filing early will get a refund," he said.

Tax laws changed only a little this year, but experts warn that the change in presidential administration will likely mean big changes in income tax laws for 1993.

Miller warned that one change, last year's revision of the withholding tables, may mean an unpleasant surprise for some taxpayers.

"If they didn't plan for the change, they might not be getting back as much as they were expecting," Miller said. "If they had been getting $500 or $1,000 and will only get back $20, that might be quite a surprise."

While January might seem early to think about filing income tax returns, Miller said it's certainly not too early to start planning for 1993 income tax.

"In my opinion there will be a lot of changes in 1993, especially for higher-income taxpayers," he said. "It might be a good idea to do some tax planning early this year."

Kelvin Birk, a CPA with Earley, Janssen, Begley and Co., said the tax return business is usually slow in January.

"There are a few people who come in the first week or two of January, but it's a pretty small number," he said.

But Birk said it's not too early to think about gathering information concerning income-tax preparation. He said especially people who will have someone else prepare tax returns should begin gathering information in February or at least by March.

"If you wait until the last minute, you might miss out on some deductions you were entitled to," he said.

Paul Schermann, a CPA with Hendrix, Schwab, Schermann and Co., said most of his clients file complicated returns and do not have the information they need for filing until later in the year.

But he said those who are self-employed or who receive other income must make their fourth estimate by Jan. 15.

"Some people have to figure out basically what they have made for the year to make that estimate," Schermann said.

In addition to the change to the withholding tables, Schermann said some new rules are in place affecting individuals with high incomes. And some new requirements affect tax withholdings from retirement plan distribution.