Play it Again, Uncle Sam

My dear friends at the IRS called on Monday and left a message that I MUST call back by the close of business.

I got the message on Tuesday, which was Veterans Day, a federal holiday. Not surprisingly, nobody answered at the IRS when I called.

So, the next day, I dutifully called at 8 AM when they were scheduled to open. I put my wireless phone on speaker as I went about my morning--getting kids off to school, preparing for a Girl Scout meeting, getting my lunch together for work. Thirty minutes later I hung up. After all, a girl's gotta go to work, especially on her second day at a new job.

At about 3:30 pm, I tried again. I called from my cell phone in cubeville, and just left the 1812 overture playing again through my speaker phone. When someone finally picked up my call, 40 minutes later, I was relieved to speak to a very pleasant gentleman who gave me his name and employee identification, asked for information about my account (which I had already entered into the bleeping phone system, by the way), and then put me on hold for another 20 minutes while he looked up my record. I walked outside and waited and waited and was almost ready to give up when he came back on.

After that shaggy dog intro, let me cut to the chase. The IRS was calling me because they never received my 433-F and accompanying documentation. I spent HOURS on it. Gone. Could I please resend it by certified mail, to a different address by the end of the week? They need it to evaluate my request for a lower monthly payment of my overdue taxes.

Sure, why not? I guess I should have paid more than the $4 to send it the first time.

Something makes me think that if I were the one to misplace something so important, my revenuer friends wouldn't treat it so cavalierly.

Could be worse. They could still be threatening to garnish my wages.

There's more to this story here.