# The IRS may finally be catching up on its old business



## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

For almost 3 years I have been corresponding with the IRS about a mistake they made regarding my 2020 Uber/Lyft taxes. I was fined for a late filing of my return, even though I had indeed filed, and had simply left out the [relatively new] Schedule 1 from the return. 

It has been impossible to reach the IRS by phone, but I have been answering every single mailed notice of ever increasing late fees by letter. I have accumulated several "we need more time to process your request" letters along the way, and in fact got another just a couple of weeks ago. But today I got another letter, and this one had a bill that reflected the removal of most all failure to file as well as late charges. That left an $89 balance, which even though it maybe should be zero, I happily wrote a check for. 

Good on them for catching up, and for being reasonable. Now of it weren't for that one million rounds of ammo and all those new agents who are required to have a background in gun handling....


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## Launchpad McQuack (Jan 8, 2019)

_Tron_ said:


> It has been impossible to reach the IRS by phone.....


I actually got through to them by phone about 4 months ago. After about 2 and a half hours on hold, they told me that my case could not be handled over the phone and I would have to send them a letter in the mail to proceed further.




_Tron_ said:


> I have accumulated several "we need more time to process your request" letters along the way, and in fact got another just a couple of weeks ago.


I have a stack of those also and got the latest one a few weeks ago as well. I have a dispute ongoing with the IRS for about 15 months now, most of that time spent waiting on them to get back to me. This dispute is the root of some comments that I made in another thread about the IRS being a less-than-functional organization. I plan to create a thread about it once the dispute is fully resolved one way or the other. It will be long, but maybe it will serve as a guide to others in my situation.


Yesterday I got an e-mail from my mom saying that I received a refund check mailed to her address. So I called her today and she opened it, and she said that it was a check from the Treasury Department with my name on it labeled "Tax Refund". I have not yet filed my tax returns for 2021, so this is the only thing that I can think of that it would be......although there was no explanation with it. Just a check. The weird thing is that I have never lived at my mom's address, even as a kid. I have been staying with her off and on over the past year to help out with some family matters, but it is not my mailing address and I don't have any mail sent there. There have been a couple times that I have bought something online and had it shipped there because that is where I was at the time. And the last time that I mailed stuff to the IRS regarding our dispute, I used her address as the return address on the envelope because that is where I was at the time and wanted the mail returned there if it could not be delivered. But everything inside the envelopes and on the tax forms has always used my address in New Jersey, where all of my mail goes. My mom lives in Indiana.


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

Launchpad McQuack said:


> I actually got through to them by phone about 4 months ago. After about 2 and a half hours on hold, they told me that my case could not be handled over the phone and I would have to send them a letter in the mail to proceed further.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Odd they sent it to your mom’s address.


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## Launchpad McQuack (Jan 8, 2019)

Invisible said:


> Odd they sent it to your mom’s address.


Yes, very much so.

I checked my records today, and the numbers don't jive. The amount of the check that was sent to my mom's address was about $500, and the amount that I was disputing with the IRS was about $460. So it doesn't look like that is what the check is for.

Does anybody know, if you get an unexpected check from the United States Treasury with no explanation, is there a way to contact somebody to find out why you got it and verify that it wasn't sent in error? I don't want to cash it and then have them come back at me later claiming that it was sent to me in error and I owe them the money back.


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

Launchpad McQuack said:


> Yes, very much so.
> 
> I checked my records today, and the numbers don't jive. The amount of the check that was sent to my mom's address was about $500, and the amount that I was disputing with the IRS was about $460. So it doesn't look like that is what the check is for.
> 
> Does anybody know, if you get an unexpected check from the United States Treasury with no explanation, is there a way to contact somebody to find out why you got it and verify that it wasn't sent in error? I don't want to cash it and then have them come back at me later claiming that it was sent to me in error and I owe them the money back.


It could be legit and they gave more because of the interest because you had to wait so long. I had that once where they made an error, took forever to send my money to me and then it was more because of interest.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Launchpad McQuack said:


> Yes, very much so.
> 
> I checked my records today, and the numbers don't jive. The amount of the check that was sent to my mom's address was about $500, and the amount that I was disputing with the IRS was about $460. So it doesn't look like that is what the check is for.
> 
> Does anybody know, if you get an unexpected check from the United States Treasury with no explanation, is there a way to contact somebody to find out why you got it and verify that it wasn't sent in error? I don't want to cash it and then have them come back at me later claiming that it was sent to me in error and I owe them the money back.


I tell everyone to open an online account with the IRS. You can sometimes get More information looking at your online account. I find it very helpful. In this case you might find a description of the check issued.

Also, a big thing today is fraud where people file returns under your name and social. Checking your account may quickly discover this. For example you didn’t file your 2021 taxes yet, but on your account is a return filed.

Very curious how a check went to your mother’s address. Unless you change your address with them, all correspondence and checks are sent to the address on the last income tax return you filed. Very curious indeed.

Almost sounds like someone filed a return in your name and changed your address to your mothers address. You need to get to the bottom of it and creating an online account might help.


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## Launchpad McQuack (Jan 8, 2019)

Invisible said:


> It could be legit and they gave more because of the interest because you had to wait so long. I had that once where they made an error, took forever to send my money to me and then it was more because of interest.


That is exactly what it was. It said so on the check stub, but my mom didn't tell me that when I talked to her on the phone. The IRS sent a letter (again, to my mom's address) to say that they had made changes to my 2019 tax return and were issuing me a refund. When you subtract the interest from the check amount, the remainder is for exactly the amount that I was disputing. So I can finally cross "Fight with the IRS" off of my "to do" list.



Seamus said:


> Almost sounds like someone filed a return in your name and changed your address to your mothers address. You need to get to the bottom of it and creating an online account might help.


So maybe I need to put "Fight with the IRS" back on my "to do" list? Great.......



Seamus said:


> I tell everyone to open an online account with the IRS. You can sometimes get More information looking at your online account. I find it very helpful. In this case you might find a description of the check issued.


The problem is that I don't have secure access to the Internet. Any time I access the Internet (like right now), it is almost always over public wifi. I don't care if somebody hacks my UP.net account, but I don't really feel comfortable accessing tax accounts and records over public wifi.


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