Calling all Lawyers! I got a question...

General Questions
#1

Okay, so for some reason, begining January 1, 2002, my job somehow got the impression I got married. Apparently, they passed this information along to the US government.

Now, I have direct deposite, so I do get a receipt, but I never really look at it anymore than to note my address was right, and to see how much I got. It’s my own fault for not catching the fact earlier, but I never got married, so the prospect that such a thing could happen never even occurred to me.

I now owe the government over $900. I took my paystubs and my W-2 form in to the Accounting director here at work, and he said the only explaination for why so little was taken out of my taxes was because of the little M next to the subject line “Marital Status.” He has no idea how it happened. He says he’s sorry. He says there’s nothing I can do about it.

Is this true? Is there any way I can make my case that I’m not now, nor have ever been married, and can use that fact to help reduce my debt? Again, I take responsibility for not verifying the information, but for nearly a year, I’d never had a problem, so I had no reason to expect one. I didn’t notice it until after I found out how much money I owed. I’ve already used the money, but again, I was under the impression that everything was alright. Is there anyway I can petition against this and reduce my debt, or do I just have to chaulk this whole experience up to “live and learn”?

#2

IANAL and IANACPA, but as I understand your post, the question is not a problem with the calculation of the tax amount for last year, but a problem of insufficient withholding to pay the amount due.

This would be similar to buying a car with a $200 monthly payment but only making payments of $50 a month, then asking the car dealer to write off the balance because you “thought” you were paying the correct amount. The IRS just doesn’t think that way.

What you can do is IMMEDIATELY file a new W-4 form with your employer showing your single status, so that they can start withholding the correct amount. In fact, since the year is 2+ months gone already, you may want to request they hold out a little extra each month as a cusion. Then, you may even get a little refund next year.

#3

Yeah, I figured as much. The problems is, my w-4 form says I’m SINGLE! It always has, and I’ve never entered in a change. That’s what peeves me.

Oh well, now I know better.

#4

Elvis, I doubt that you’ll be able to get out of paying the debt, but you may be able to avoid interest and penalties (if any are due) using your sob story. Write a nice letter, and be sure to mention that you’ve always been on time with your taxes in the past, and ask if you can set up a payment plan.

(IAAL, but not a tax lawyer, and I probably don’t practice in your jurisdiction anyway. This is off-the-cuff advice given in my lay opinion, and should not be construed as reliable legal advice. No attorney-client relationship has been created by this post).

#5

What ENugent said.

Also, if you can avoid paying interest and penalties, you should pat yourself on the back for successfully being able to take out an interest-free loan from the government.

I guess if you do get hit with interest and penalties, you could accuse the company of the good old-fashion tort of negligence. They had a duty to withhold the amount you told them to when you filled out the forms, they breached that duty, the breach caused you to not pay the correct taxes, and now you have damages in interst and fees. However, YMMV on the claim.

#6

It sounds to me like Elvis owes the $900 for tax year 2002, which means his payment is not due until April 15 of this year.

–Cliffy

#7

I hope I am not attacked for saying this, but the IRS is actually very friendly when you contact them first about scheduling a payment plan (before they have to come knocking on your door.)

I knew a woman who got hit with an $8,000 back tax bill. There was no way she could pay it. She offered to pay $50 month and they accepted it. Granted, there will be interest, etc. but at least she is now able to keep her credit record clean with no fear about liens.

#8

Ok, the law is, you are responsible for paying taxes on your earnings. You are also responsible for paying any interest on taxes you did not pay. You were “unjustly enriched” and that cannot stand. That’s why you must pay the tax and the interest.

Your job, however, since they are the ones who erroneously changed your status and therefore your deductions, and MAY be responsible for paying any penalties that may be attached since you did not ask them (by submitting a W-4) to change your filing status.

#9

Ok, the law is, you are responsible for paying taxes on your earnings. You are also responsible for paying any interest on taxes you did not pay. You were “unjustly enriched” and that cannot stand. That’s why you must pay the tax and the interest.

Your job, however, since they are the ones who erroneously changed your status and therefore your deductions, MAY be responsible for paying any penalties that may be attached since you did not ask them (by submitting a W-4) to change your filing status.

#10

IIRC, you get assessed a penalty if you misjudge your tax withholdings by a certain percentage. You simply can’t have an employer withhold zero, and then pay in one lump sum on April 15th (however, you could pay it all on December 31 without interest/penalties).

#11

Bah, sorry for the double post - tried to make a grammatical correction before it posted, but was too late :slight_smile:

#12

Pencil Pusher- I believe tax payments are actually due quarterly, that is, you can’t pay it all on December 31, However you COULD have your employer subtract zero and then pay 1/4 of the amount you would owe at the end of every quarter. I would probably look for websites aimed at independent contractors for that sort of thing…

#13

I checked the IRS website

I also did a search for “quarterly” and found:

#14

Thanks everyone. I’m not quite sure if I have any extra fees to pay, but paying off the $900 isn’t going to be a real problem. Just a pain in my ass. Thanks for the help though.

#15

The easiest thing for you to do is just get married.

#16

Back in the 1980s I worked for a time as a Contact Representative for the IRS, answering taxpayers questions over the phone. (Now there is the job from hell.)

One of my duties was negotiating payment agreements with people who found themselves in a bind.

Many people have the perception that IRS employees are, in the main, nasty, obnoxious, sullen, vicious, arbitrary bullies.
Based on my observations, this is largely correct. They don’t like each other either. The people who work the phones, however, are largely an exception, especially when they get to talk to someone who is polite and who has taken the time to think out what they want to say in advance, so that they can explain their story plainly.

This last part–being plain–is actually very important. One hears about people calling up the IRS twice and getting two different answers. I sometimes talked to the same person who was calling back to shop around for a more favorable response, and found myself giving them a different answer–that’s because they were giving me more or different facts than they had before.

My guess is that you could get a reasonable payment plan. It certainly costs nothing to ask.

#17

That would neither be easy nor cost less than the $900.