HOW?? DOES THE IRS ...

[sanjuro893]

Wait.... did I even file?

 

[SKATA]

I had an issue with IRS this year. Since we have limited income, we can now file electronically. For some unknown reason, the IRS wiped out the taxes we paid. Then sent me a letter demanding $$$ that we owed. It was more than my income!

It took me a couple of weeks, three different people. The first two said the computers were down and they couldn't help me. The third person was sick with covid but recognized the problem and fixed it. I couldn't thank her enough. Two months later we received the determination letter.

If you sign up in the IRS system, there is an area called "transcripts". It is a detail of hundreds of lines for the 1040. Of course it is all electronic and if someone types something incorrectly, then it will create an issue. You can discover where the error is through the transcripts.

I have always done my own taxes because it was part of my accounting degree program. If your income is low enough, then you can file electronically. I tested a few sites two years ago, IRS approved of course, but found them to be a click bait. I now have a "free" service, IRS approved, and we have received our refund eight days of filing. Unheard of from the past 50 years of filing. But I figured since the IRS approves those sights, the IRS formulas are in place and you can get a faster refund.

 

[dennishoddy]

Then sent me a letter demanding $$$ that we owed. It was more than my income!

I got one of those letters back in the late 80's from the IRS.
I did my own taxes for years and never had an issue.
Ex wife called me crying that the letter said we owed them $40,000 because of a child care deduction mistake.
I wasn't making near that figure annually so knew it was a mistake.
Checking and savings account were frozen. Lien on the house.
Called the IRS office in OKC, went line by line through the return and was told that I was actually $1 and some change over. They owed me a refund.
Told her that I always rounded up in the governments favor to eliminate any discussion.
A couple of months later with hand cut checks from my employer, a letter from a CPA with a copy of the return, I got an I'm sorry letter.
A little trivia here. The person cutting those checks for me in accounting has been my wife for almost 36 years now after the ex-bailed out.

 

[Buck98]

And to make it even more understandable, those employees are folks just like us.

And some of them probably worked for the postal service too!!!

 

[beardking]

I just this week had to pay a $220 fee because the IRS said that I filed my taxes for my LLC late by a month. I sent them the tax returns with the correct file date on them to show that I had, in fact, filed them correctly. Rather than accept my proof, they sent me a new letter stating that I owed the $220 PLUS $2 and change for interest because I didn't pay the fee in time. So, instead of trying to argue with a bunch of drunk monkeys, I ate the $222.xx just to (hopefully) get them off my a88 and not get anymore threatening letters. I hate the IRS.

 

[John6185]