So a month ago, I get a notice in the mail from the IRS. Apparently they never received my 2009 tax payment and want their money. I was declined a credit card at my bank because of this.
Safe to say, I managed my exemptions so that my tax bill for 2009 was about the price of two lattes at Starbucks. Penalties and interest amounted to less than a dollar.
So I called the IRS and they assured me they received my return but no payment. I recited to them the money order number (I don’t like checks) and told them that according to the money order company’s system, it hasn’t been cashed yet. They said they’d look into it and I should call back in 30 days.
Thirty days later, I do. They found the payment and return was processed.
Me: Can you give me a letter showing that it was an error on your part?
IRS: We can send you a letter saying your owe nothing more on your taxes for 2009. It’ll take 10-14 days to process and mail.
Me: But I was declined a credit card because of this. There’s no letter you can give me to say the debt was an error?
IRS: We don’t do that, sir.
Long story short, why won’t they give me a letter admitting error? Liability fears?
IRS agent: [Sgt. Schultz voice]I know nothing.[/Sgt. Schultz voice]
I don’t know, but I know they don’t. They placed a hold on our goddamned bank account about 15 years ago. If the bank hadn’t called us, we never would have known until we tried to make a withdrawal. When we called the IRS, they said we owed them money (we were living in Africa at the time), so we sent them a check out of another account. Never heard a word. Then, months later, we get a check from them in the same amount. No apology, no explanation. Happened twice.
Ha! As someone who deals with the IRS for clients every day, I was expecting far, far worse from the title of this. I’ve had clients’ lives ruined because of IRS mistakes (and that’s not hyperbole- they’ve been bankrupted, rendered literally homeless, lost jobs, etc.) and, even then, the IRS wont even do the basic work to correct the problem. Hell, that’s why these people have to retain our firm.
Why? I don’t know. I guess it’s pretty hard for a giant government machine to handle each little individual case specially-- plus, if they admit fault, that opens them up to a whole lot of problems. Ultimately, though, they lose a good chunk of shit-- I’m sure this will happen to you again (which is why I suggest online payments when you can).
Not that it makes it much better on a personal level, but just try to remember that it could be much, much worse.
I work in a goverment office. Managers are deathly afraid to admit wrongs. They fear having to get their names, or their departments, in the news. They think anything that reflects badly on them threatens their jobs, even though we have a pretty good union.
My WAG is that to them, a mistake was made and corrected. There’s no point to go the extra mile by admitting fault since the original mistake was rectified. Move on. It’s not their fault, they figure, that you got denied a credit card, mistakes happen.
Speaking only for my department, it’s not so much liability fears as it is embarassement fears. Yes, we’re run by a bunch of people who still thinks they’re in high school :rolleyes: