IRS

[T2K]

Just recently the IRS had their way with me anally and I did not enjoy the experience. After many months of back and forth I finally paid their demands to turn off the $pigot of penalties/interest. I'm planning to visit my local IRS field office soon. I hope they will review my past return and explain to me how they arrived at my underpayment amount. Has anyone had experience with their local IRS field office and what that office can and can not do regarding reviewing past tax returns?

 

Keith

[K5SS]

I had a bad case of identity theft a while back and spent about 3 days at my local IRS office. I will tell you this, it wasn’t a fun week.

 

My IRS office didn’t allow you to schedule meetings so everyone would show up super early, in hopes they would get one of the earliest openings. The first time I went, I arrived at the time they opened and there was a line of 40 or so people already there waiting.

 

With  all of that said, the folks at that branch were able to help me, just took about 15 hours of me being terribly frustrated to get the needed results. I am a very patient man but a few hours in, many people in the waiting area start to lose patience and their cool. The armed guard, was there for obvious reasons..

 

Good luck!  

[T2K]

Thanks for that. The local office here takes appointments according to their web site. I didn't call today but I will call next week to see if they're open during this shutdown. I waited 6 months after getting a letter from them and never got an answer, only another duplicate letter with the same information as before. I hope to file an amended return before the deadline.

 

Keith

[Gilbert]

Just recently the IRS had their way with me anally and I did not enjoy the experience. After many months of back and forth I finally paid their demands to turn off the $pigot of penalties/interest. I'm planning to visit my local IRS field office soon. I hope they will review my past return and explain to me how they arrived at my underpayment amount. Has anyone had experience with their local IRS field office and what that office can and can not do regarding reviewing past tax returns?
 
Keith

No statute of limitations, depending on your circumstances, they can dig back as far as they want or need to; but generally 10 yrs is common.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Schu]

I've had good experience with IRS negotiations to lower my delinquent/penalties in the past... I found them accommodating and easy to work with. I probably only saved 25%, but every little bit counts.

[Jeff Matthews]

9 hours ago, Gilbert said:

No statute of limitations, depending on your circumstances, they can dig back as far as they want or need to; but generally 10 yrs is common.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

Gilbert is raising a point which takes you down a road you might feel you need to go.  Specifically, if the problem goes back far in time, you might want to know just how far back the IRS can take this kind of action.  10 years is common for collection.  Collection is the period of time they can seize things to collect a debt which is assessed and determined to be owed.

 

Assessment is a different story.  If you don't file a return, the clock never starts ticking, meaning the IRS has potentially "forever" to begin assessing unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.  If you are missing a return, the IRS can pretend you made $X by just "assessing" it based on data they have on you.  Once you file a return, the period in which the IRS must act is, I think, typically 5 years, but there can be exceptions.  So, they have 5 years to review a return and make any assessments.  If they do this, they have 10 years to collect from you.

 

Anyway, if statutes of limitations are pertinent to your situation, bone up on it before your meeting.  Maybe even bring notes about what you find with you in case the issue comes up from either side.

[richieb]

 

=== I’ve heard on good authority the IRS use the same equipment as your friendly neighborhood proctologist, rubber gloves and all. Difference being the equipment isn’t sterilized between “patients” —/

[T2K]

Thanks for all the replies. My situation is somewhat complicated. I retired in 2013. The year in question was 2016. The amount that the IRS says that I owned was an outlier from prior and post years even though my income/deductions varied little. Part of my income is from personal contributions (private pension) that I/employer paid over the years. That portion (>50%) is not taxable, as I understand it. The lessor amount (~ <40%) is taxable. The payer of my income calculates the amount of withholding and they have been really accurate over the years. My 1099 shows just a couple of figures. One figure is my contribution amount, which has nothing to do with my monthly income. The other figure in a BOLD OUTLINED box says 'Gross Amount Paid'. That's it. No other figures that could be confusing. Of course I include a copy of the 1099 with the tax return, which is already reported anyway. The underpayment bill that I received from the circus was greater than the amount of taxes I did owe in other years, even after the withholding amount I had already paid during the year. So apparently the IRS figures my contributions are taxable (?) or they used the contribution amount to calculate my tax liabilities. I'm going to find out. Hopefully. It ain't about the money, it's about the numbers. And the numbers don't jibe.

 

I want to look someone in the eye at the Local Office and ask specific questions and get a straight answer. We'll see.

 

Keith

 

[T2K]

3 hours ago, richieb said:

 

=== I’ve heard on good authority the IRS use the same equipment as your friendly neighborhood proctologist, rubber gloves and all. Difference being the equipment isn’t sterilized between “patients” —/

 

It must be different here. I only felt one digit. Both of the agents hands rested on my shoulders.

 

Keith

 

[MEH Synergy]

9 minutes ago, T2K said:

 

It must be different here. I only felt one digit. Both of the agents hands rested on my shoulders.

 

Keith

 

But it hurt so good.  Good luck to you man. Always a headache /hassle.  As your private quoted experience suggests, usually not something to look forward to. 

[T2K]

3 minutes ago, Westcoastdrums said:

But it hurt so good.  Good luck to you man. Always a headache /hassle.  As your private quoted experience suggests, usually not something to look forward to. 

 

I love a challenge. Especially the mind games. Prepare yourself and bullschite your way out of the corners. Butt thanks.

[Bosco-d-gama]

Had California franchise tax board chase me down for a capital gains tax. The guy was a real jackass asking only those questions leading to a worst case scenario for little old me. Once he’d made his point he became righteously indignant accusing me of intentionally lying, etc. Then I asked him the ‘rest’ of the questions that pertained to the case whence he learned quickly that he was not only 100% wrong (no taxes owed) but was an insulting jerk as well. Rather than connect me to his supervisor he neatly closed the file and let it go. He must have been a new-b thinking he could bully his way, that or he just got his jollies making honest folks squirm. 

 

The best advice is to know your case and remain calm. Do not let them rattle you. As I understand it nearly all such irs inquiries are simple errors or misunderstandings and easily corrected w/o additional taxes. Did have the irs disallow deductions altering my liability. Turned out my accountant transposed one of my boys ssn numbers which triggered a cascade of yuck. Easily fixed but no fun whatsoever.

[richieb]

1 hour ago, T2K said:

 

It must be different here. I only felt one digit. Both of the agents hands rested on my shoulders.

 

Keith

 

 

=== ouch! — ain’t that a poke in the eye —

[CECAA850]

Good luck Keith.

[JohnJ]

On 1/18/2019 at 6:12 PM, T2K said:

Has anyone had experience with their local IRS field office and what that office can and can not do regarding reviewing past tax returns?

Keith

Years ago working as a subcontractor, paying quarterly, keeping enough in savings to pay that 1099 in full every quarter they tried to shaft me. In FL paying only federal made it easier I guess, kept a little notebook with my hours, location, mileage, travel time sometimes specific events. Had copies of everything from three years back on file. Son of an accountant and a bookkeeper I'm not a whiz but I can keep up.

 

They tried to tell me I didn't pay enough in a hundred or so hours of overtime pay @ x1.5 pay one year. It was the most recent tax year.

It wasn't on my side though, it was on the side of the company that paid me that the error was made. Not sure how except they did hold out from me something when it went to overtime. Somehow that "helped" them, after this I knew it was shenanigans. They did not hold out enough, not my problem. I was living pretty good on $12.00/hr back then.

I held my ground waited way too long several times, the third time or after the third notice that they had sent me and I went there to ream them again that b^$tard at the Orlando office took one look at me with my paperwork in hand again, signed something on his desk, even made a copy and handed it to me. Says "Have a nice day Sir" goodbye! They acquiesced! 

I knew I was right and got them to believe it too.

Your situation has the similarity of that third party not doing something right also.

Nobody f's with my money, my squeeze or my truck so I fought for it and this so-in-so won.

[JJkizak]

I just do what Turbotax tells me to do and have no worries or stress.

JJK