Comments on: Dear IRS: This Is Why We Hate You

By: “Did you Google this or anything?” | The Agitator

“Did you Google this or anything?” | The Agitator — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:32:31 +0000

[...] It’s August 18th, and I still haven’t received my 2010 federal income tax refund.) Digg it | reddit | del.icio.us | [...]

By: Tash

Tash — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:00:22 +0000

What has always been a bug up my butt is that ssi starts estimating your benefits from when you turn 18. Come on please! Where is all the cash that was taken out at 15, 16,17 on our part time,after school or summer jobs go. Or for those of us who had to start working to support ourselves before 18 years of age?
Some fat rat is leaning back in his government issued office chair smoking a stoggy think “man I sure no one figures this one out and saved pay slips 40 some years back”

By: John C. Randolph

John C. Randolph — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:55:30 +0000

REFUND?

Radley, why in the world are you giving the greatest deadbeat of all time an unsecured loan? Never let them withhold one penny more than you have to.

-jcr

By: Frustrated with the IRS

Frustrated with the IRS — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:46:45 +0000

Bottom line is some of them are incompetent and idiots. Apparently, the IRS hate to admit when they are WRONG and want to send honest folks through the ringer, but give the criminals all the breaks (remember hearing about the tax refunds sent to prisoners). Go figure.

By: solinox

solinox — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:01:00 +0000

A friend of mine has suggested that you contact the Social Security Administration about getting a new number. It might be less hassle than continuing to deal with the IRS over this number.

By: Al

Al — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 06:34:40 +0000

Dear blogger,

Your problem is that you’re calling the wrong people. The people you really need to be calling is the Social Security Administration to get your number changed. IRS employees are shackled from inspecting your prior returns unless you’re being audited due to understandably strict privacy rules, and besides, do you really want that happening? Once your return reaches legal scrutiny, your return is being reviewed by people who are paid to care about how much they can collect from you.

Sincerely, former tax attorney

By: Randoms of the day « Foseti

Randoms of the day « Foseti — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:13:45 +0000

[...] I’m on the subject of bad arguments from libertarians, Radley Blako is having IRS problems. That sucks. But it sounds no different than any interaction with a large [...]

By: C. S. P. Schofield

C. S. P. Schofield — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:00:08 +0000

Tax Man;

Every Senator has a sizable staff for doing constituent work. They know from long experience that the Senator that doesn’t is a Senator likely to have a bunch of free time on his hands after the next election. This is the kind of thing that they LOVE to help with; it is well within their power and there is no actual down side…..nobody is going to vote against them because they pulled the IRS up short. It isn’t like getting a green card for somebody’s cousin, that could get spun against them.

By: spiro

spiro — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:15:23 +0000

@Radley,

What’s keeping you from putting as many exceptions on your W-4 as possible, and NOT paying any taxes next year?
If they already have another guy paying taxes with your SSN, aren’t you more or less off the IRS radar. Do you even exist anymore?
This would be even easier if you are independently employed. Then, I just wouldn’t file at all, and see what happens……
After all, they only gave you the wrong SSN bull AFTER you sent them a tax filing.

By: Cyto

Cyto — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:04:16 +0000

I’m not following the bit about 47% not paying taxes being a good thing…. having such a large percentage of the electorate with no skin in the game is a manifestly horrible thing IMHO…

By: Joe Mastriano CPA

Joe Mastriano CPA — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:03:21 +0000

I've heard of stories like this many times. The IRS needs to find a better way to help those who have had their social security number compromised. Its only fair for the person with the legal ss number to obtain their money as soon as possible. It's not their fault that some one is willing to go around stealing peoples identity. Tax Problem

By: Reggie Hubbard

Reggie Hubbard — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:27:58 +0000

The quality of the last sentences in your posts rivals every other writer I know.

Another gem. Sorry you’ll have to put up with the bullshit again. I think you should document your time and send them an invoice for their incompetency.

By: donald

donald — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:02:00 +0000

When she stated “you have to tell me what action to take” I don’t think I’d be able to resist saying “OK, go home and gather your family in the living room, put a shotgun in your mouth and pull the fucking trigger”

By: M. Steve

M. Steve — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:57:40 +0000

@45 Mike T

It’s not *just* that they don’t give a damn, it’s that they are actively rooting for the referee to screw us. After all, if you pay taxes, that means you have an above average salary, which makes you rich, doncha know.

Sure glad my $X,000 is going to help fund this nonsense. I would have only wasted it, anyway.

By: phlinn

phlinn — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:45:39 +0000

@Stormy Dragon, #19
I had the same repayment, but didn’t have any issues. However, I used H&R block’s free efile program (they charge for the state return…) and still had a net federal refund. I also filed later than you did. Any of those could have made a difference. What’s sad is I never did get around to using the credit for anything except sitting around earning interest. I felt a little guilty about claiming it in the first place.

By: Mike T

Mike T — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:17:05 +0000

Secondly, the 47% who don’t pay federal income taxes is a feature, not a bug,

And here we have, on display, a good example of what passes for libertarian strategic thinking…

It doesn’t seem to occur to you that those who have no skin in the game might not give a damn how the referee calls the shots.

By: Curt

Curt — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:11:44 +0000

@ Radley

Better be careful with all that complaining. If the IRS uses the same policies as the folks at TSA/HLS, they will have flagged you for further review because you “display arrogance and verbally express contempt for (their) procedure”. You’ll probably be audited to make sure you aren’t a financial terrorist.

At least you can rest assured they’ll get the right address when they come looking for you.

By: Abe Froman

Abe Froman — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:02:21 +0000

As I was reading your description of the conversation with the IRS advocate I pictured her as “Rebecca DeMornay” in the Seinfeld episode “The Muffin Tops”.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:19:09 +0000

#33, first of all, no they don’t. The public at large is willing to make cuts in government spending. Secondly, the 47% who don’t pay federal income taxes is a feature, not a bug, so ramping up IRS audits would be pointless if that is the problem you are trying to address.

By: Cyto

Cyto — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:01:42 +0000

#34 | Radley Balko | April 27th, 2011 at 9:26 am

Hey, at least it has only been twice for you. My graduate fellowship made their computers spit out my return and demand extra cash – even though I followed the perfectly matching example from the IRS publications to the letter. It took 3 years of wrangling with the IRS to get that one straightened out. A few months later I got the notice about the next year of my fellowship. Your “how can we avoid this next year” conversation is remarkably familiar. 5 months into the 3rd year fellowship’s return odyssey I gave up and let them have their $440. The first time in my life I went with practicality over principle. That was the day my idealism began to die. Before that day I was known to fight over a nickel that I didn’t owe.

The idealism is still there, but it definitely isn’t what it used to be. I probably had well over 1,000 hours in getting the first $440 mistake fixed. Too bad I wasn’t in show business….. that was about the same time that the IRS wrote off $30 million for Willie Nelson. That’s when I realized that the bureaucrats are more pragmatic about collecting the money than anything else. In my case they knew they stood a good chance of getting my small amount of cash even though they were wrong – so they fought to keep it. In Willie’s case they knew they’d likely never see most of that money, so they settled and took what they could get, even though he was wrong and they were right.