Obviously the IRS can never make a mistake or be in error, and so you would never see letters that say:
“Our records show we received a 1040X…for the tax year listed above. We’re sorry but we cannot find it.”
“Our records show you owe a balance due of $0.00. If we do not receive it within 30 days, appropriate collection steps will be taken.”
“Payment is due on your account. Please submit payments on or before June 31 to avoid late payment penalties and interest.”
Although this is the perfect time to find out if the US Mint prints a $0 bill or find an alternate calendar system, some people often known as “accountants” would urge you to not automatically assume that a letter from the IRS (or from any state taxing agency) is correct and ask you to come talk to them about any tax notice.
These “accountants” would urge you to stay calm. They say that the IRS sends out millions of notices every year, often about very minor issues.
The next thing they recommend is to open the letter. Apparently many people are so intimidated just by getting a letter from the IRS that they fail to actually open it. Don’t be one of those people! The first step in addressing an issue is to open the letter, or to give it to an “accountant” to open.
Also, they would recommend reading that letter. “Accountants” say that sometimes, rarely, the IRS is going to correct an issue in your favor, but in order to determine that you need to have read and understood the issue. This is definitely something that “accountants” say that they can help you with.
Even if you don’t need the help of a professional, “accountants” say, you should respond in a timely manner. You can write a short clear letter and refer to any claim number, reference number, or letter code that is on the letter from the IRS and mail it back to them within in the time frame that the IRS has set out. You could use certified mail to ensure that you have documentation of when you sent a response and when it should have arrived.
If you respond yourself, make sure to include copies of documentation to support your point. Those “accountants” say that it may just be that the IRS computers didn’t match up something exactly and all you need to do is point out the information, often on your return, it might resolve everything.
“Accountants” say that they can help you navigate any issues with the IRS, and say you should never assume that the IRS will just go away. Until you get a confirmation that a problem has been resolved, you should assume that the IRS is still coming after you, like in those movies about zombie IRS agents. If you don’t get a correspondence confirming resolution, you or your “accountant” should follow up.
Of course, we all know that the IRS has probably never made a mistake and we should trust it implicitly . . . right?
. . . right?
Well, if you need an “accountant” perhaps you should think about Tardy & Co., PC of Albuquerque, NM, which runs this very website, and you can find their contact page here.
Tags: weirdly funny