Comments on: In Which the IRS Affirms My Libertarianism

By: Dear IRS: This Is Why We Hate You | The Agitator

Dear IRS: This Is Why We Hate You | The Agitator — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:34:45 +0000

[...] So I never got around to updating you on my feud with the IRS. (See here, here, and here). [...]

By: KTax

KTax — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 09:24:17 +0000

This exact thing has happened to me. I filed for the home buyer credit. I just figured they were reviewing my information as everything I read from other people basically said it took them 8+ months to get their refunds.

I called back in July and the girl I talked to couldn’t figure out what was wrong and would have the person working it contact me in 45 days. I also verified they had my current address as I had moved in December. Nobody ever contacted me. I called again in september. Same deal.

I get a letter saying my return was changed because of information I provided. I didn’t provide anything but again thought it was because of review of the home buyer credit. The refund amount was still the same and everything else matched up. It said it would be 2-3 weeks to get the refund if I hadn’t already received it.

Come December and I still hadn’t received it so I called again. This time the lady tells me it was direct deposited in early November. I said, uh, no it wasn’t and gave her my account number. It wasn’t even close to the number where they deposited the funds. She asked if I had filed two returns then if I was the victim of identity theft. No and no were my answers. She then send it back to the person who processed the returns for review.

Things just don’t sound right so I call back. This time I dig for more info. They had a return from someone on the other side of the country and one from me under my SSN. I was able to get the bank info and street name of the other person.

I really hope this all just means the other person goofed with his SSN or the tax agent entered something in wrong. Because the other return didn’t come in until late March, I’m optimistic it was just a mistake. A thief would want to get it in as soon as possible to beat the real return.

Never in 7 months had I received any communication from the IRS regarding two returns for my SSN!

What really gets me about this whole thing is it seems they did figure out my tax return was the correct one since they sent an adjustment letter to me with all my info but instead of mailing a check, they direct deposited it to the account on the other return!!!

I pay estimated taxes because of my side business. I’ll be sending in my taxes by January 31st with what I owe from now on. This was a special case because of the credits. I always aim for 0 balance.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 22:20:15 +0000

My mom is going through almost the exact same thing. Unfortunately, she was depending on her refund months ago and keeps getting the run around. There should be a way to gain interest on this money they are holding from her, just as they would have done to her, had the situation been reversed.

By: Toastrider

Toastrider — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:53:55 +0000

My father works for the IRS.

Everything Radley and the commenters have said?

IT’S ALL TRUE.

(My Dad’s not stupid. Really, he’s not. But he’s looking forward to retirement, because he’s tired of dealing with a tax code which is basically nothing but loopholes, dodges, and stupidity.)

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:15:04 +0000

I waited one solid year for my first time homebuyers tax credit. April 29th 2009 to May 1st 2010. I really could have used that $8500 the first year I owned the house to buy furniture and maybe stimulate the economy. Instead by the time the check showed up, I had cleared myself of all debt and socked the money away instead.

Why did I have to wait? Because my previous address was a PO box. That was enough to get my 1040X flagged for investigation.

By: The Liberty Papers »Blog Archive » If The Gov’t Doesn’t Pick Up The Trash, It’s Rat-Infested Black Plague For Us All

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:56:47 +0000

[...] can just ask the same Radley Balko how easy it is to get money he’s owed from the government, even when he’s done everything right and hounded them repeatedly for an [...]

By: bitsnbytes

bitsnbytes — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:06:41 +0000

The IRS is supposed to pay you interest if they don’t process your refund in a timely manner, so go ahead and tell them you want it. The delay is due to their mistakes, and they should acknowledge it and pay up. It’s no problem for the government; they’ll just borrow a few bucks more from China.

By: Graham Shevlin

Graham Shevlin — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:54:33 +0000

Most of this nonsense could be swept away if the tax code was simplified by the removal of just about every deduction and special loophole. In the UK, where I used to live, the government simplified the tax system enormously in the 1980s. One of the major changes was the gradual removal of the mortgage interest tax deduction, which was a classic example of the Law Of Unintended Consequences.
The challenge in the USA is the checks and balances system of government, which, coupled with the clout of the lobbyists for lawyers, accountants etc. who do very nicely out of the current byzantine code, makes real reform unlikely Any Time Soon.

By: Max J.

Max J. — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:41:42 +0000

And of course, this is a universal gov’t value. Every serviceman knows how hard it is to recover your money when you file a pay inquiry, which always miraculously takes weeks or months longer than the instantaneous shitstorm that results if the military thinks you owe it some cash.

By: Bergman

Bergman — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:29:29 +0000

I wonder what would happen if you deducted the return the government owes you from what you pay next year? The books would balance then, after all…

By: v ~

v ~ — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:02:03 +0000

it’s worth a lot to have an accountant prepare your taxes Radley, especially if you’re in any way self employed. said accountant would be responsible for finding out what’s up w/ your refund cheque if you don’t receive it in timely fashion. there’s also less of a chance that you’ll be audited if you have an accountant file your taxes. i love mine. she’s super awesome and absolutely on it. nice to have the process be pain free. maybe next year you’ll be inclined to agree :)

By: Nobody special

Nobody special — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:53:35 +0000

If you never do get resolution (which is a distinct possibility) then here’s what you do:

1. File a 1040X for 2009 and indicate that you wish to apply your refund to your 2010 taxes.

2. Cut your withholding down so that you owe, but don’t owe quite enough to incur a penalty. You NEVER want a refund. Ever. You always want to owe a little. That then allows you to apply the credit from 1.

3. In your 2010 taxes, simply apply the credit from 2009 that you gave yourself. Since you end up owing (see #2) you end up writing a smaller check by the amount that your 2009 refund should have been. Presto! Problem solved, unless you’re due a refund this year too, having cut your withholding (see #1) so late in the year. If you’re due a refund this year and don’t receive it again, then make sure that for 2011, you owe more than the 2010 refund you didn’t receive. Then you can do the same trick again, filing a 2010 1040X to apply the credit to 2011.

By: Leon Wolfeson

Leon Wolfeson — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:35:37 +0000

Radley;

The problem is your tax codes are too complex.
Also, your post is long and boring.

No offence.

(UK tax? Er, well, PAYE works fine for the contract jobs, for the rest there’s a two-page form I fill in once a year. That’s IT – Technically PAYE is a withholding scheme, but it’s based on a single, easy-to-check code and there’s no basically no withholding outside PAYE!)

By: lunchstealer

lunchstealer — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:18:14 +0000

The accountants’ lobby just luuuuurves the IRS and its customer service guys. They have all sorts of very sensible sounding rationalizations for making the tax code as complicated as possible, but when it comes down to it, it’s all about generating a market for their services.

By: Boyd Durkin

Boyd Durkin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:37:05 +0000

Your tax dollars at work: Dept of Ag teams up with Pizza Hut and Dominos to sell more cheese. You can already guess why.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/07fat.html?_r=1&ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=all

Obviously there’re a ton of these, but this is an example even most Americans can understand.

By: random guy

random guy — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:37:32 +0000

This past year I filled federal online, went to do the same for NC income tax. When I went on their website, I found that it had no encryption of any kind and would only allow direct deposit from bank accounts. I would have to enter in bank account and routing numbers on an unencrypted website. Yeah I sent that one in by mail, which either the post office or the Dept of Revenue lost. Five months later I get a letter saying my taxes are due with a late fee and that at six months after the (initial) due date I would be given an additional fee.

Ughhh.

By: Hunter

Hunter — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:06:14 +0000

Don’t forget your congressman. They have people who focus on constituent services. They idea being the person is grateful for the service of navigating the system the congressman helped to create that they’ll vote for him/her. I know heresy here but it is an available resource.
You might not want to mention what you write about and be sure to say you love Big Brother.

By: Dante

Dante — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:05:51 +0000

Reading stories like this one (Radley’s Tax Return problem caused by IRS incompetence/stupidity) makes me question why:

Government employees make more than the private sector, and

Government retirement/pensions are better than the private sector, and

Government health care is better than the private sector.

Stop calling it public service. It is self service.

By: KristenS

KristenS — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:05:09 +0000

Sell the debt to a collection agency. Let’s get some pressure on those deadbeats!

I love this idea!!

By: Jim Collins

Jim Collins — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:00:59 +0000

Three words.

National Sales Tax.

Plain and simple. No more tax returns, no more IRS intruding on your life.