And people want to give the government more power?
 

I'm amazed at how stupid the IRS is, its also amazing how they screw up, assume you are guilty than have to prove it was their mistake.:rolleyes:


I paid my taxes in early April, sent them a check via certified mail, etc. Check was received and cashed by the IRS shortly after, all should be good right? No. I get a letter about a month latter saying I never paid, bs I call my accountant get copy's from my bank of the check, and routing number used when it was cashed to transfer the funds to the IRS's account. Accountant sent them a letter pretty much saying you have my money, any problem is on your side. After sending a couple more notices the letter kicks in and they say oh, my bad.:mad::rolleyes: Now I just get a letter in the mail today, saying the balance that was credited to my account was "erroneously" applied, and I owe them interest and late fee's now.:mad: Now I get to play the game all over again, Oh please IRS overlord I'm just a humble peasant I paid don't crucify me!:rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure these people have the IQ of a small monkey on their best day.

Who wants to give the g'ment more power?

Just think about how much this cost in postage alone :rolleyes:

Since the PO is still going broke, maybe the IRS has been asked to help by increasing the letters mailed.

Oh wait they posted it late so you owe them late fees and interest for the time between April 15th and now?

What people?

...........or is this just trolling..........:eek:

Yes, I believe you are correct...........the PO is going broke.........the OP must pay.

The only place they need extra power is by way of the voltage for the chair !!

If they looked at how much extra they actually recover compared with how many people they employ & pay, they may find out that the country would be better off to sack the lot of them & save more by not having to pay them.

If the PO is SOL then the OP must be a PITA because I have NFC as to WTF half of these acronyms mean :D

FYI if you E-file your taxes, it eliminates most of that BS. I had some paperwork problem almost every time I filed my taxes the old fashioned way, but for the last couple years Ive been E-filing them, and I get a notice within the day, sometimes within the hour saying they have been accepted and such, or rejected if I screwed up. Way more pleasant than mailing everything off.

Your experience sounds almost exactly like several I have had with the IRS. :D Whaddya expect though, its a huge huge bureaucracy full of troll like people. Eventually, it will get done correctly, but only after they grind your bones to make bread.

That reminds me, it's almost 10/15; I need to send in my return.

This even more bad news for the Post Office (PO).

Thats insulting to monkeys, large or small.

:P:P:P:P:P

I have to figure out how to e-file. I used to when I had a job and it worked pretty well, but now my tax situation is different. My accountant pretty much gives me a sheet and says write a check for X amount.

I just don't understand why their is such a problem I send them my quarterly checks and their doesn't seem to be an issue. Now my accountant needs to send them another letter, waste of everyone's time and money.:rolleyes:

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/8218/turbotax.jpg


:thumbsup:

I couldn't use Turbotax, I'm sure there is a way I can do a wire transfer to the IRS next time. Just need to figure out how.

I'm sure your accountant can do it..............

Yeah probably, when I send him this new letter to deal with I'll mention it.

Wealthy fellow such as yourself...........send him another $1G and he'll be happy to e-file it for you..........you can't be bothered with such mundane crap.........

Did you even bother to read the original posting :confused: You are so far away from the subject discussed here.....:rolleyes:

Ahhh, no. I've been an "E-filer" for the last 5 years. I'm currently going through exactly what Hattie is going through.

I e-filed in April of '09 (for '08 taxes), got the confirmation from the IRS and paid through THEIR on-line payment process (pay1040 or something along the line). In August or September of '09 I got a letter stating my electronic signature was invalid and I needed to sign and mail them a form. Did so. In January '10 I got the same notice again, filled out their form AND submitted a revised 1040. Musta messed their minds up because in August '10, my bank accounts were levied and the money was seized. Called them up in a bit of a snit, spent over 2 hours on the phone to find out they had not received any of the previous correspondence and , oh, by the way, they are missing filings from '03, '05 and '07 also and when did I want to make a payment schedule? What?

Dig out the paperwork for '08, sent them ANOTHER copy of the 1040, a copy of the email confirmation and a copy of the bank statement showing the electronic payment through their site. Mailed it off. Set up a payment plan to prevent any more levies until we get it straightened out. This plan depended on my being current so I had to wait for them to receive the '08 return.

Checked back with them on Sept. 28th to see what my standing was (my payment arrangement depended on a "drop-dead" date of Oct. 4th to go into effect) only to find out they had no record of receiving ANY paperwork! Faxed a copy of my '08 1040 while I was on the phone, received verbal confirmation of its receipt and was told to call back later to check on the payment plan.

Called back and was told, "yes, we received the 1040 and it is being reviewed and did I want to set up a payment plan"? Once again, WHAT? Seems as though it takes 8-12 weeks for them to review the return and make a "determination" on its validity, until it has been approved I'm on the hook for the amount calculated at the HIGHEST possible tax due amount (single, no deductions) ,interest and penalties due. WTF? What review? They accepted the original return and the payments for '04 - '10 and now they are denying receiving 3 years?

Essentially, they've seized 14K of my money and according to them, if I make arrangements to pay ANOTHER 10K to them (?), re-submit all documentation (2 or 3 times at a minimum) they'll review my case and in 3 months, or so, decide whether I need to send them more money or perhaps they made a "correctional oversight".

I feel for you, Hattie. It's a long, dark road you are about to journey upon. There aren't bright enough fog lights to illuminate your path either.

Absolute power corrupts, absolutely.

Why is it that government bureaucrat types seem to be the personality types who regularly combine ignorance and arrogance?

I have had a similar problem with the irs. One year I filed my taxes late but over paid them because of an error in their favor. Later I discovered the error and filed a corrected return. I was due (lets say) about 600 back. When I got the refund it was only for (lets say) 450. I called them and said what gives? They say you owed penalty and interest. I said "Wait, because I thought I owed you the money (but never actually did) I owe you penalty and interest on it anyway?" They said yes.

I thought $crew you.

Another time they credited my payment to a wrong account and started dunning me for it but had the wrong account number. EAch time I would respond that that was not my account number. After the third time they dunned me I called and finally they figured out that they had assigned me a new id number for no reason. They refused to give me back my old number and insisted I owed them interest because it was late. I went to my accountant about it and he said that I was right but it would probably cost me more to pay him to straighten it out than it was worth so I should just forget about it.

GRRRRRR!

Hattie, my advice going forward is to pay enough in so that you always get a refund. I have never had them lose a check coming my way.;)

Just forget fighting them about something rather small like this. It is an exercise in futiity. You cannot "teach them a lesson". Nobody cares.

Now if you owed them a half mil you could negotiate it with them and probably get off for a lot less....but if you owed them that much you would probably have a lot worse problems than the IRS!;)

I don't want to pay him any more money, but its nuts that I have to go through this. I figured sending them my check via certified mail would be fairly bullet proof but I guess I was wrong.

You wouldn't believe what I went through with the IRS. Took over a year to get it straightened out. This is after they confiscated my tax return and stimulus money.
I sent them the same exact paperwork numerous times because they kept requesting them. :confused:

The taxpayer advocate I had was awesome. They were the only thing that worked with the IRS. They saved me a lot of money.
http://www.irs.gov/advocate/

I guess sending them letters telling them exactly how stupid they are didn't help much.:o

Danny

Yikes. I went through the same thing that Walgamuth went through with the crediting to the wrong account. Although in that case, it was arguably my fault, since my written social security number had an unclear number on it.

Same deal, took almost 2 years to resolve, and I kept getting all kinds of nasty letters. Sounds like you had the same mail problem though, even after the E-file issue. In the end cost a number of thousand dollars out of my pocket. So far, E-filing has been the way to go for me though, it removes sending mail into the IRS and partially eliminates dealing with actual people who as Walgamuth says, just don't care and have a drone like mentality. The kind of people you find in any bureaucracy, ive dealt with plenty of the same obstructionist useless people in the private sector also.

Funny how 90% of incoming mail seems to get misplaced, yet they have no problem quickly mailing out collections and threat letters! :D Shows the difference in efficiency between the two departments! I bet you anything all your letters arrived on time and to the correct department, and then sat in an in box for months on someones desk.

E-filing, if it works properly and accepted, jumps past the first level of bureaucracy and goes directly into the computer system. Once its there, I figure most drone like people just do what the computer systems say to do, so you avoid the mail center entirely.

Concerning the OPs original comment though, I actually doubt more or less money to the government would have large effect on a bureaucratic process that has been honed over the years. Honestly, what really needs to happen is a more performance and rewards based system for IRS employees.
Say for example, if there was some chance of getting fired for "losing" a certain number of tax returns, or sitting on your ass playing tetris for 8 hours instead of your job, or a more intensive analysis of performance, it might weed out a lot of totally useless people, and people with more initiative could rise easier. Maybe they could try to attract more intelligent employees, or change the image (if possible). You can see how drone like people migrate to the IRS, who in 9th grades says "I want to be an IRS auditor!" :D
They could have an outsourcing program which moves useless IRS employees into more meaningful easy jobs for them, like handing out thruway tickets in NY state. (Yes, unbelievably, we still have people sitting in a booth handing out tickets, in many cases, not even making change)

Personally, If I spent 8 hours handing people tickets, I would kill myself. Another possible perk to moving them there.

Nah.........certified mail means nothing unless you take it all the way to the mat. Otherwise, if they lose it after receipt, you still are SOL, unless they agree that they lost it (unlikely).

Certified mail means they received the ENVELOPE, not the contents! Yeah, go ahead, ask me how I know!:mad:

Interesting observation and quite true.

I believe the government pay is at the bottom of the proverbial barrel and only those who are least qualified will take such positions.

Furthermore, once they have the position, they are relatively secure and are very unlikely to be terminated for mediocre performance, so, why work harder than necessary?

From the arrogance standpoint, that must simply be due to the absolute power they possess without the requirement to satisfy their "customer" in any way. In effect, they have an adversarial relationship with their customers...........a situation that can only work for the government.

There are 2 things everyone should know.
1- Anyone can take the irs to tax court for a fee of $60. You do not need an accountant or a lawyer to be present with you. If you have all the documentation to prove your right you can go it alone.
Of course for more complex issues an accountant or lawyer can go with you.
Also, you have a small amount of time to go the court route. If you miss the deadline the tax advocate is your best, and probably, only hope.

Did I mention the service of the tax advocate is free?

2- If your having long term issues with the irs the tax advocate is your best bet to get it fixed.

If you haven't gotten it yet. IF YOUR HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE IRS THE TAX ADVOCATE IS PROBABLY YOUR BEST BET TO GET IT FIXED.
:)

Danny

I just called my accountant, were going to mail them the letter they sent me saying they found my money and applied it to my account. What a waste of time.:rolleyes:

............that'll be $500...........thank you very much Mr. Hatterasguy...........

OMG! After reading things that can and do go wrong when dealing with the IRS, I've been lucky, no, da#n lucky for the past 38 or so years.

I'll concur with Brian Carleton too, in that having your CPA research anything is going to cost you more money. Almost 30 years ago, I had forgot to pay Federal taxes on stock dividends (it's easy to do, btw) and here I get an invoice from the IRS for a hundred and a half or so more tax due. I called my CPA in Memphis, TN. at the time to look into it, and I also have to pay him a hundred to confirm it. Next time this happened years later (fuhgetting to pay Federal tax on stock dividends) - I just sent the IRS the amount they asked for - and 86ed the CPA deal. For 15 years I've got the best and cheapest CPA money can buy, and she doesn't gig me with an invoice for asking a question or two through the year.

Nah he won't charge me for it.

If I were you...........I would have just paid the $150. and been done with it...................

What's his phone number..........??

You want it? He is quite good, my attorney has been using him for 20 years and my uncle for probably about 10.

I wasn't as wise then......I learned that I actually owe money when I get invoiced by them.

Bookeeping (keeping up with my paperwork & various 1099DIV stuff) hasn't been a strong suit for me.

Of course...........I'm going to call him up and tell him that you're loaded and to charge you $500. for that IRS letter............

No I'm broke I'm glad he is reasonable.

I got lucky on my only dealing with the IRS, they had some expense totalled in with my earnings and said I owed them a few thousand dollars tax. I sent the paperwork and got a case closed letter within about 4 weeks.

problem with their attitude is so many people lie to them they just assume everyone is lying. and it takes an act of congress to fire a gov't employee so why should they care.

You want to see what the gov. does with your tax dollars read this. It was a Frontline show. Print it out and send it to your friends.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/

I always sent my returns in, both Fed and State, Certified, Return Receipt, showing that someone, somewhere, signed for the damn things. I kept the tags and all related minutia 'til the 7-year experation point.

Still, I got one letter claiming "No reciept from you...duck, we're coming!"

I called 'em up, got a fax number and shot the paperwork down to them...everything checked out...including the copy of the cashed check they had claimed they never got.

Haven't heard from them (knock on wood) since.

Now, this past year, I filed via "E" ... Am I screwed? :eek: :rolleyes: :cool:

I just get a notary to send mine, and certify what was in the envelope, etc, and I get a certificate of what was in there, and copy of the receiver sig, etc...
In the US, apparently, the post office is able to certify the contents of a letter, as well as delivery. That could be good to have. It's called a roundate, or something like that...

All these horror stories of how the IRS screws up and screws over so many people...

And to think, these are the same guys who will now be telling us how much extra in taxes we owe under this HC Reform Bill.:eek:

Just frakkin wonderful.:(

:D:D:D:D:D;)

Point 1. I have absolutely no confidence in the ability of IRS as presently manned to carry out the tasks they will have at the center of health care reporting.
I have been dealing with the IRS professionally for 30 years. They are much like any large organization. Many intelligent and dedicated people there. And, yes a number of pricks, dim bulbs and govt. mentality types.
OTOH, I sympathize with the IRS because they work for 535 total morons.:eek: They only do what Congress mandates them to do with the people Congress lets them hire.

Case in point, I was reading the other day about how the Treasury is getting concerned with 2011 witholding tables. They usually publish them in Nov to give payroll companies and other employers a chance to get their software adjusted for next year's brackets by Jan.2. Right now, they're sitting in limbo over it....and may be come Jan.1, given how much acrimonious B/S is likely to be flying once they return after the election, depending on how it goes.


Point 2. Danny is correct about the Taxpayer advocate. I refer people to them now and then, depending on the issue involved, usually for clerical f/u's or inability to pay. For other problems, I deal with the practitioner's hotline. These people can cut thru b/s too.


Point 3. Turbotax "self-prepared" returns are the most audited returns, (whatever that means) or so I was told this year at a seminar. The IRS is mandating that all paid preparers register with the IRS and obtain PTIN's AND undergo a certain amount of education every year. The only people exempt from the education rule are attorneys and CPA's, who have their own professional CE requirements.


Point 4. The IRS is upgrading their computer capability. Two centers, Ogden and Cincinnatti, have already been upgraded. Among other things the newer systems can do, I am told, is hold 5 years of individual taxpayer data and perform analytical work for abnormalities in deductions, etc.


Point 5. Paying taxes electronically will probably more the norm in the next few years. Employers will no longer be able to make payroll tax or corp tax payments with coupons at local banks next year. Instead they will have to pay on-line. Only a matter of time till they expand (push) it to the 1040 system, imo.