Cohn didn’t have any assets. They were hidden behind numerous fronts.
You can file a false return for someone else.
Not that I would. It was in some book I read a long time before, ‘Poison Pen Letters.’
WHen it comes to small sums such as the amount you are dealing with, there’s a good chance you will simply not hear from them.
I have a friend who only filed when he was getting a refund, and not when he had to pay. This meant file a few years, not file a few, file a few, etc.
I can’t imagine a worse practice than this, but he has never gotten contacted by the IRS and in fact, now that he has changed his tune and is paying, but doing it by filing the form which is an application for paying with installments - meaning, contact with the IRS every month - nobody has ever brought the other years’ oversights to his attention.
DISCLAIMER: If you choose not to file and you do get busted, I am not in any way responsible. I pat my taxes like any good Ameican would! 
Yer pal,
Satan
http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif
Still not smoking, but away from my meter!
Missbunny: If you don’t file, the IRS does not really know if you have a refund coming, so based upon little info, they usu do nothing. The IRS really does not like doing “substitute for returns” as they are based on so little info, ie only income. Satan is right, if you do not file, and you would only owe a bit, there is a chance the IRS might never contact you. This is a REALLY stupid bet. DON’T DO IT! Take my professional advice here, and file, even if you can’t pay.
My parents have an airplane in partnership with some other folks, so there is a pseudo-corporate entity (the “partnership”) which has to file taxes. I don’t know all the details, I just know it’s more paperwork.
Anyway, they paid their taxes every year, and one year they got a nasty note saying that two years prior they didn’t pay, and here is the new total with penalties and interest. My mom sent them a copy of the cancelled check which proved they had paid the bill. The next year, the same thing happened for the same tax year, of course with even more penalties. The exact same cancelled check was copied and sent again.
This continued for 4 or 5 years. Calls to various agents assured them that it was taken care of and wouldn’t happen again, but every year it did. Finally, my parents wrote a letter to their congressman with a summary of the ludicrous story and copies of all correspondence. The IRS was not heard from again.
I think they’re much more friendly now, as they realize we pay their salaries.
I’d give my left buns-cheek for a Wally sig.
DOUG: partnerships don’t pay Federal taxes. So I really can’t say what happened. However, there may have been an “enity” problem, ie the enity not using the right EIN. I know a couple that used to switch SSN’s: Hers, then His, as which one was 1st. This caused the IRS to assume that the other was not filing that year. The couple could not understand why they had to do it “the IRS’s way”. However, I convinced them.
Hi, I just discovered that I forgot some $500 in 2009 (for the 2008 taxes). I really had no clue about that until yesterday. I checked my check book, and indeed, there is no check written (so, it’s not like I sent it and they didn’t process it).
I didn’t receive any notification all this time. I had the same address.
What should I do?
First, be on the lookout for zombies. Second, call the IRS.
I’d call a CPA or tax attorney before I called the IRS. But, indeed, watch out for the zombies.
It’s been 2 years, they should get around to you this year. In 1999 I made a mistake on my return. I transposed two digits when reporting my withholding (X72X instead of X27X) and got a refund that was $450 larger than I should have. In 2001, I got a letter saying I screwed up and owed them $640 (the original overpayment + 2 years interest). Luckily that was the year of the Bush tax cut + $600 rebate check. I got a second letter saying “no rebate check for you - now you only owe $40”
The IRS moves slowly, but they’ll still get you. Just like zombies.
Speaking as one such professional who specializes in collection issues: don’t call us over $500. Just pay it. It’s probably closer to $1000, but of course there is interest on the amount you didn’t pay. Just call them and either full pay or request an Installment Agreement (monthly payment). Do realize, though, that if you do an IA, you will continue to accrue interest and possibly penalties. Realize also that you already will have some penalties (failure to pay, etc.).
When you file your return it goes to an IRS accountant for processing. Obviously your return will show that you owe $650, and of course you should have attached a check. If there is no check you’ll receive a letter asking for the $650. The longer you take to pay the more interest and penalties you will accrue.
What won’t happen is they won’t sweep it under the rug and forget about it. It will continue to pop up as uncollected and you will continue to get letters. With each letter the amount will increase.
The best thing to do is call them and set up a payment schedule. They want their money and they will be very accommodating in setting up a payment plan. It can be as little as $10 bucks a month. They aren’t trying to put you in the poor house, they just want to collect. If you are proactive they probably won’t even fine you.
Zombies stil have to pay taxes. Just because you’re dead does not mean the IRS will stop bothering you.