Late last year we got notice from the IRS that we owed back taxes for the 2008 tax year of more than $1400. The number comes from money I take in from blogging and my weekly show. However, I intentionally didn’t claim that income because my expenses far exceeded my income.
After getting the letter, I contacted my father who is a CPA in San Antonio. I had him double check all my numbers and we confirmed that instead of OWING $1400, the IRS would OWE ME a little less than $200 if I claimed that money.
So, I contacted the IRS and explained why I was not claiming my internet income. I explained that if I filed that income, I would also claim my expenses according to tax laws and that I would be owed money that I didn’t put into the system. I don’t want to take money from the government (ie: the American people) that I didn’t earn. They were unsympathetic as I would expect any government agency to be. After all, it’s not THEIR money right? It’s not the IRS employees’ money, it’s yours and mine. Well, yours in this case!
While speaking to the IRS, they brought up that I’d be receiving a letter about the 2009 tax year as well for the same thing. So, I submitted amendments to my tax forms for both years. Later, I received a response from the IRS saying basically, “oops, okay you only owe us a little more than $900 for each year.” They completely ignored the majority of my expenses. Remember, I went through a CPA so it wasn’t me just cooking the books.
I resubmitted – again – the paperwork to the IRS and our “tax debt” was lowered to about $860 each year. I guess if I keep just resubmitting amendments eventually I’ll get down to zero where it should be, but the IRS is growing tired of playing games.
We now have to figure out how to come up with about $1700 to pay Uncle Sam because millions of lazy unemployed hobos are counting on me to come through for them! Any other year, this wouldn’t be such a difficult thing, but since our last tenants at our house in Alabama caused over $2500 in damages to our house and broke their lease six months early, we’ve completely exhausted all our savings trying to save our home from foreclosure. Due to our last unexpected military move, we were forced to rent out our home since we couldn’t sell it (thank you President Obama). We wouldn’t have bought the house to begin with but were counting on staying in Alabama for at least five years, not two!
Why am I telling you this? First of all, because it’s funny that they’ve probably spent a pretty penny sending me threatening, certified letters over the past seven months or so. Also, if anyone has any advice on convincing the IRS to wait until I get back from Afghanistan to get paid or whether they payment plans, please let me know. I’m also just a little frustrated that they’re going after such a piddly amount to begin with! The good news is that I went ahead and filed the way they want me to for 2010, so I shouldn’t have any more issues. I guess I should thank all you taxpayers out there in advance for the extra money that itemizing has put in my pocket against my will that I didn’t earn!
It’s only the Christian thing to do to pay my taxes. Romans 13:7 says, “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”
I feel your pain, CJ.
You will need to dot every ”i” and cross every ”t” to get your number down.
I have a cousin who has the elephant man’s disease.
It not only disfigures her but it has calcified her kidneys.
Years ago she had a kidney transplant.
That lasted about 9 years before it calcified.
So her doctors gave her another kidney.
Recently it shut down, calcified.
So, she has to do peritoneal dialysis for 8 hours a night.
She put one of her expenses on the wrong line in 2009.
It has been a nightmare for her ever since.
Not one agent has been either kind or understanding.
She is regularly threatened over ”income” she never had.
Penalties and interest on this imaginary income are adding up, too.
Her brother actually suggested she hide any tea party stuff when the auditor comes over next time.
(Maybe an Obama poster?)
They absolutely have payment plans. They will charge you like 44 bucks for it, but that is just taken out of the first payment.
I.E.: You pay 50 bucks, 44 of it is the fee, 6 bucks goes to the taxes you owe.
And its a one time fee.
CJ, how sorry to learn that the patriots who put their life on the line are treated that way,
you might try to report that person for outrage to a military. report to the right person
only the one with a position to get that employee replace permenantly.
bye
You know CJ there are companies that specialize in dealing with the IRS. I think it would worth the discomfort the IRS would feel dealing with a Former IRS Tax attorney and they having to pay you. You could donate the monies to a worthy charity.
What is weird about all of this is the treatment CJ got. Whenever I’ve had to deal with the IRS, they have always been cordial and very helpful on the phone. I’ve called customer service lines before, and calling the IRS each time was the most pleasurable of all of them. The first worlds out of the woman’s mouth were ‘Relax. This is nothing a real big deal. This happens all the time. We don’t want to arrest you, or take your home, or anything like that. Let’s see what we can do to help you with this today.” So it seems kinda weird to me.
@SavageMind: I’ve thought of that, but the cost of that would eat up the benefit.
Bob the American, hi, I think you should give the name to CJ, maybe you
got the one who wash the floor answering while the others are on their lunch brake
bye
CJ, try to get a military accountant in the PENTAGONE ,
he would do it for nothing I’M SURE
We had to pay taxes on a forgiveness or cancellation of debt from a creditor- Apparently you are suppose to claim that as income- Despite that it was mostly over the limit, interest and late fees- We cleaned it up and settled with the creditor but what the heck entitles the IRS to any of that- We both work and have taxes taken out- and yet how do we owe 5000 in taxes for one year- And we are not a six figure salary family either- The IRS is deperate and once you show you can pay them- you are in their crosshairs and every return ever filed
CJ, I have been in trouble, big trouble, paying taxes in more than one country type of trouble and the IRS was usually helpful and cordial. If I got a bad apple, I just called back 24 hours later and got a completely different story. I called it dialing for dollars. Their rules seem to be flexible, so for what it is worth, call and argue politely and call every day or two until you get the deal you’re looking for. That was during the 80’s and 90’s, maybe they have changed now that they work for the Obamanation, but I doubt if they are any smarter. Keep the faith my friend, you will always have a sympathetic ear at this end.
CJ, I am sorry. You can always get them to reopen by innocently asking them to explain something as if it is their favor and you are confused. It’s called a sucker punch.
It’s always been a strategy of mine to never reveal your strength or intelligence, always be the innocent country boy and ask them to help you. They love to help us poor unfortunate souls who can barely read.
Good Luck! Yea, I fight dirty. I’ll admit it.
@Skookum:
I wouldn’t call it that, Skooks. I’d call it acting exactly how they expect you to act, right before you lay the smackdown on them. Essentially, you are allowing them to underestimate you, without disavowing them of that notion until it is too late.
that’s what I KEEP telling every one that the CONSERVATIVES are way ahead,
but wont tell.
CJ, I’m going to tell you a real story and perhaps it will lessen what you are going through:
I had a friend who was a distributor for the Houston Chronicle. He was one of the distributors that fill the newpaper vending machines you see in front of 7-11s and on corners. He received a letter from the IRS but was tired (having to get up at 3:00 a.m. to be at the loading dock at 4:00) so he threw it on the counter, deciding he would read it the next day when he got home from work.
The next morning (@ 4:00 a.m.) he was sitting in line at the dock to get his supply of that day’s Chronicle. Back then the dock serviced only one truck at a time, but a guy came up to him, flashed a badge and told him to get out of his truck, which he promptly did. Another guy started immediately wrapping the truck in red tape that said (Property of the IRS). The badge flasher was IRS and had a couple of his guys with him. They shut down the whole line as once they confiscate property, only they can move it (in the case of a vehicle).
A mutual friend of ours that worked at the Chronicle gave him a ride home where he found his wife and two daughters (around 7 & 10, at the time) standing in the front yard in their night clothes. The IRS had made them leave their home and immediately red taped it. My friend, and his family, were not even allowed to go inside and get clothing (all now confiscated by the IRS). He and his family were taken to a motel, but when he went to use his credit card for a room, it had been shut down. He had about 20 bucks on him so we all took up a collection, got him a room and I went shopping for clothing for them.
You see, he didn’t check the postmark on the letter which told him he was to appear before a IRS auditor that day. And due to the competency of the IRS, the letter was not mailed until twhe day before the hearing although the letter itself was dated two weeks earlier. When he didn’t make the hearing, the auditor order confiscation of all his assets. So here he was, no checking account, no credit cards, staying in a motel because the IRS would not let him back into his home, no truck with which to earn a living. Some of the other Chronicle distributors got together and did his run for him, but then the IRS decided to garnish his wages for the $7,000.00 they claimed he owed (plus interest, late fees and penalties, or course) so he had no money.
It took him two years to get his taxes straightened out. The IRS had made an error in putting the information into the computer and they really owed him money. By now, he’s hired the best tax law firm in Houston, at no small cost, and he is completely broke. Two years later he gets his home back and his truck, without so much as “We’re sorry” from the IRS. But the stress it caused in his marriage ruined it. He wound up getting a divorce because his wife just couldn’t handle it.
This was a great guy, a 12 year Marine, who had seen combat, a deacon at his church, a great dad, never had so much as a speeding ticket and would do anything for anyone. And the IRS ruined his life because of their error, not his. He called me one day and ask me to take him to the Greyhound bus station. He bought a ticket that was good for travel all over the U.S., got on the bus, and we never saw him again.
It is also a tactic of the IRS to wait a couple of years before they notify you there is a problem with your taxes. That way, if you do owe them, you get hit with late fees, penalties and fines. It is a money making proposition for the IRS. My CPA was an auditor and quit because he said they treated everyone like criminals, even if it was a mistake made by the IRS.
I hope you work it out. Let them send an agent to your duty station. Does the IRS issue flack jackets?
It would be interesting to know what party all the recent hires in the IRS work force along with the TSA belong to. Just wondering, in Ohio by law anyone can anonymously call and ask any name they want to get that info. Would it not be weird that if the vast majority of people who have been hired end up being the party of a mule?
Naaaa! sounds too conspiratorial.
Have you checked out the military homeowners assistance programs? They have three to four. Depending on when you bought if you are unable to sell or sell for a loss and where moved they will reimburse or provide assistance
retire05, wow what a sad life story and real too,the destruction of many people in one stroke of a pen,
they should be arrested post culpability after done with, they should not have such power given to empLoyees,
so brainless, MUNE SHADOW, with what is being done now, and at the edge of a new election comming,
the NATION HAS BEEN DIVIDED SO MUCH, and those new employee could very well answer to
conspirational, possibility to become reality, some have been so shell shock by subliminal propaganda,
and having acces to so much info, that give them power to destroy a whole family unit, even lead a person to kill himself out of desperation is a implacable subject to be raise in this forum, to expose that kind of crime by IRS.
who give them order to do those things should be trown in jail,
can you beleive AMERICAN WHO WENT TO WAR GOING THROUGH THAT LIKE the MARINE ,
while the border are brigning ILLEGALS BY MILLIONS, WHILE AMERICANS GET THAT KIND OF
TREATMENT, THIS IS horrible. this NATION CANNOT SURVIVE IF THEY ARE TO ACCEPT THAT.
@Nate Ogden: I have and I refuse to use it. I’m adamantly opposed to having someone else pay for my risk. I bought the house and I’ll pay the price for being to afford it. I won’t use tax money to pay for my mistakes.
CJ you’r not alone in it, your family is there, so if you can get help now and you can repay later,
in an urgency, one must learn to take as well as you have given for AMERICA, and walk proud and tall as well,
the AMERICANS OWE YOU, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, YOU JUST CANT SHUT YOUR FAMILY THEY FEEL YOUR ANGUISH AS YOU DO. LET WHO EVER WANT TO HELP AND SOME DAY IT WILL BE TIME TO GIVE THEM BACK, anybody who help a soldier is capturing a certain luck later, call it what you want, maybe those who lost their life at a war zone are giving that luck , but it’s true
CJ is your house in Daleville?
Don’t know if it has been mentioned, but you can file a Form 9465 and pay in installments if owing under 10k. They will send you a statement every month or you can have it withdrawn automatically. You probably know this since your relative is a cpa.
CJ, Retire’s story sounds horrific. I think one of the important aspects is to stay engaged and be polite. They have the power, but if you are asking them to explain things it is hard for them to get tough and it looks bad for them in court. Ignore them and you can expect the full measure of their wrath.
@CJ:
I know that you’re a man of principle and I admire that.
On the IRS issue, it seems to me that there should be some sort of legal assistance that you should have access to as a member of the military. If you’ve got a certified CPA who says you are due a refund of X dollars and the IRS is hounding you in the opposite direction to the point that they are now threatening you, it might be worth your while to consult legal counsel especially if you have low cost or free access to such.
I understand what your saying CJ but I would view this different then a handout for doing nothing or making a bad decision like the other modification programs. When a private employer ask an employee to move they usually cover their moving cost, the military does this as well. This assistance is becuase they asked you to move during a time it might not otherwise make sense. Private employers are also assisting employees in dealing with underwater mortgages.
My undersgtanding the program was specifically designed to help people who bought at the height and due to deployement orders can’t wait for a recovery, far different from someone looking to move own the street or just get out of a bad deal.
CJ, you need to go to the base legal office and see if you can get you an extension until your return from deployment under the Soldiers and Sailors Act. They should be able to make that happen pretty easily. Good luck, and thank you for your service.
@Ike: no, it’s on the west side of Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville.
Thanks for all the advice. I’ll call back tomorrow.
Very nice and mature comment, wow I am just stunned.