'Cause I'm the Taxman
No matter how crappy your day has been, it always gets a lot worse when there is mail addressed to you and your wife from the Internal Revenue Service about 45 days after the tax payment deadline when you get home from work.
Yes, the too-fat letter was awaiting Val and I when I got home from work Monday; with a couple of other less-than-pleasant financial matters occurring in the last week, this was the last piece of mail I wanted to see. I feared that we had received an audit letter, which would have been a first for us.
I took Walker Evans on his walk so I could think about the situation, but I knew I had sent the check in just before the deadline, so the first thing I would do when we got home was check the online checking account. Indeed, I had sent a check for the proper amount April 13, and the check had been cashed and canceled April 19.
I called the IRS at the number on the letter, and after submitting some information and identification for about 5 minutes, waited 15-20 more minutes until I finally got a live person, "Ms. Bonner," on the line at 5:37 p.m. At 5:38 p.m., after I quickly explained my problem, I was put back on hold as she "researched" for five minutes.
At 5:43 p.m., she came back "with some good news." The funds I sent in had been credited to my account/Social Security number, while the joint return Val and I filed was under her account/Social Security number. "Ms. Bonner" said she would transfer the funds to settle the account.
Back I went on hold, and "Ms. Bonner" returned at 5:52 p.m. to tell me that the transfer was successful and that no penalties or interest would be charged. I thanked her, sighed mightily and finally hung up the telephone.
Yes, the too-fat letter was awaiting Val and I when I got home from work Monday; with a couple of other less-than-pleasant financial matters occurring in the last week, this was the last piece of mail I wanted to see. I feared that we had received an audit letter, which would have been a first for us.
I took Walker Evans on his walk so I could think about the situation, but I knew I had sent the check in just before the deadline, so the first thing I would do when we got home was check the online checking account. Indeed, I had sent a check for the proper amount April 13, and the check had been cashed and canceled April 19.
I called the IRS at the number on the letter, and after submitting some information and identification for about 5 minutes, waited 15-20 more minutes until I finally got a live person, "Ms. Bonner," on the line at 5:37 p.m. At 5:38 p.m., after I quickly explained my problem, I was put back on hold as she "researched" for five minutes.
At 5:43 p.m., she came back "with some good news." The funds I sent in had been credited to my account/Social Security number, while the joint return Val and I filed was under her account/Social Security number. "Ms. Bonner" said she would transfer the funds to settle the account.
Back I went on hold, and "Ms. Bonner" returned at 5:52 p.m. to tell me that the transfer was successful and that no penalties or interest would be charged. I thanked her, sighed mightily and finally hung up the telephone.
posted by Kevin J. Hosey at 9:33 PM
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