The IRS vs. God (because I gave up)

I can’t believe I actually said “Thank you” to the IRS when they made the mistake, caused the problem, and probably shortened my life span. However, I was raised to be kind, so I was probably just thanking Carolyn, the very nice IRS representative on the other end of the phone (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

In case you didn’t hear my ranting in social media many moons ago, I’ll catch you up. NOTE: This story was originally written on 3/11/14.

For the 2010 tax season (early 2011), I prepared my W2 and W3 forms and not only gave them to employees on time, but I also mailed them into the IRS. Just a few months ago, I got my FIRST notice that they didn’t receive the W2’s & W3 that I know I sent them…AND, they were going to slap a $6,021.79 fine because of it! WHAT??? So I luckily found some old forms I could use, reprinted them, and immediately resent them, waited a few weeks, then called them to see if they got it. I was told that they did indeed just receive something from me but it hasn’t been processed into my file, yet, so they didn’t know what it was. I explained my situation and the person said that it should be easy to fix but the employee who was assigned to handle my case has been hired but won’t actually start work for a few more weeks; but if I call back in 6 weeks, I can find out if this person has resolved the issue. So…6 weeks are up but before I called them, I JUST got a letter yesterday (NOTE: This was first written on 3/11/14) announcing that the IRS will be seizing my property on March 13th (Thursday) if I don’t pay the $6,021.79 PLUS an additional $101.31 in interest charges!–interest that has accumulated for the last 6 weeks I guess. So last night was not a good sleep night. I was extremely frustrated and, honestly, a bit scared because I kept thinking this problem was going to be settled. And because I didn’t know what “property” was going to be seized and because I know, first hand, how long it takes them to fix problems, my faith was being tested.

SO…back to the story today (still 3/11/14): I picked up the phone, dialed the number, worked my way through the menu options, and then said a sincere prayer asking God to please resolve this for me (while the line was getting connected). Without having to even wait in the queue (that’s a first), Carolyn answered. I shared my story. She saw the notes from my previous calls. She said that I called at the PERFECT time. She said that if I had called even an hour earlier, she wouldn’t have an answer for me. However, she said that someone was literally JUST working my case and my account status had JUST been cleared because she could tell by the date/time stamp. They found ALL of my “lost” forms! No penalty, no interest, no seizure! I asked when I’ll get notified that it has been cleared. She said, “Well, we ARE the IRS so it might be a month or so.“ We both laughed. She did assure me that since the account has been cleared, no legal action will be taken so I can just ignore the letter. I got her ID number, made notes, sat back and released a big sigh of relief, then said, “Thank you.”

Yep, I just thanked the IRS for resolving a serious problem I didn’t create. Then I said a prayer of thanks as well. At least the IRS has to answer to Someone.

NOTE: On 3/20/14 I received an official letter from the IRS stating that they resolved the issue and abated (cancelled) the $6K fine.