Moronic IRS

[zeplin]

Today I get another love letter from the IRS to inform me that there was an overpayment on my account of $24.00. So what do they do? They do an Adjustment Computation resulting in a tax increase of $24.00 which in turn results in interest charged of $.04 for a Net Adjustment Charge of $24.04. So now I owe them(the IRS $.04) instead of them refunding me the $24.00 Overpayment.

I’m thinking WTF???? First they tell me that they owe me $24.00
Then they tell me that they can cancel out my overpayment with a $24.00 tax increase and charge me $.04 in interest.

I’m thinking these freaking moronic idiots. My accountant would probably charge me more than the $24.00 to get my money back and they know it. I can waste hours of my time costing me more than $24.00 in production time to get my money back and they know that too. Next to add insult to injury they come up with a ****ing $.04 penalty/interest Charge.

I have until May 19, 2011 to pay.

Next page it states, “If the amount you owe is less than $1, you don’t have to pay it.”

I’m half way tempted to tape four pennys to the page and mail it back to them with a great big bird salute as a the watermark.

[FNA209]

They need that four cents. Better hurry up and send it in.

[DAL]

If you overpaid, they should refund the overpayment. Tell them you want the $24.

[deputy x 2]

They sent me a love letter.......with my name, ss# on it....stating they need my name and ss# and I have twenty days to reply.

Huh????

Who is on first?

[zeplin]

Give them a fit, send them $3. It'll take months to straighten out

If you overpaid, they should refund the overpayment. Tell them you want the $24.

They need that four cents. Better hurry up and send it in.

Good suggestions all. DAL has the correct one,... but if I did all 3 maybe I could crash the IRS computers.

[SRT936]

Give them a fit, send them $3. It'll take months to straighten out

I do believe this will be the first time that I wholeheartedly agree with you. That's exactly what I'd do....

[WI Ranger]

Give them a fit, send them $3. It'll take months to straighten out

I like it. What do you have to lose (besides $3)?

[DAL]

I would rather have the $24.

When I had a problem with the FTB where they claimed I owed them $45 in interest because they mistakenly refunded my estimated tax payment which they mistakenly credited as an overpayment of taxes, I talked them into zeroing out the claim.

All in all, I prefer money to harassing people who have a very confusing job.

[JasperST]

I wonder how many agents a flat tax would put out of work?

[DAL]

I wonder how many agents a flat tax would put out of work?

Very few. People would still cheat, but the number of innocent mistakes would go down. So agents could focus more on the cheats.

[mbandybca]

zeplin,

Without knowing the full fact pattern, it sounds like the $24.00 overpayment may have been related to the tax increase itself. You may have had an increase in tax (a forgotten 1099 is most likely), which created a greater nonrefundable credit on your behalf (residential energy credit or retirement savings contribution credit for example). A nonrefundable credit can only reduce your tax to zero, with the remainder of the credit being lost. An increase in tax would allow more of the refundable credit to be used, but would not create a refund situation.

I'd check the notice to see if the $24.00 overpayment was indeed an increase in a credit of some sort. If so, let it go. If not, go find out why the IRS increased your tax. $24.00 is $24.00.

Hope this helps.

Bandy

[AZLawDawg]

Give them a fit, send them $3. It'll take months to straighten out

Ha!

[patrick_leo]

A few years back I received a registered letter telling me that I owed $0.00 and that I had to pay within 20 days under penalty of heavy fines. I gladly sent them a check for $0.00 to settle the bill.
Between the postage cost and the time to register the payment I don't know how much money it cost the taxpayer because of a computer programmer who didn't debug his software .

[mbandybca]

That's great but you never leave yourself in the position of an outstanding balance because it accrues interest and penalties. Pay them more than you owe, so that they owe you and then appeal. When i was audited it only took me a few minutes to realize that I knew more about the Tax code than the person across the desk.

ten08,

I agree with you on both counts, but if you owe less than $1.00 the IRS won't pursue it (in this case, the outstanding balance is $.04).

Bandy

[mbandybca]

But they owe him $2.96 if he sends them a check for $3. They can't drop it until they deal with that

They would probably just send him the check for $2.96 and call it a done deal. The best way to ensure that the IRS deals with this is a phone call to them. Writing a letter going over the situation (as well as sending a copy of the notice) would be second best.

Think of it this way. If I pay a cashier more than I owe, all they will do is give me change. If I question them about the charge, that's when the discussion can begin.