Bad News from the IRS this Week

Short version of the back story (which starts here if you want to follow the gore). I owe the IRS upwards of $20K. They wanted me to pay $300 a month. I can't afford to, so I requested a reduced payment of $200. They requested and I sent financial backup three separate times (plus some very cute birthday thank yous by mistake.)

I got a letter. They now say I can afford to pay $500 a month. They say they did not keep any of the previous documentation so I must resubmit all my backup for the past three months.

I'm just tired. And I can't think where this money is going to come from.

Aaargh.

(The next installment of this soap opera is here.)

Bye Bye 27.99%

Image via WikipediaSo I finally zeroed out the Amazon Chase card that was charging me 27.99% interest because of a universal default clause that got triggered when I missed payments to other creditors. (The back story is here and here.)

I paid a lot of it off, but I also transferred some of the balance to other, less usurious credit cards (like those I have with credit unions). And I haven't made any purchases on those for months. Good girl.

And now my highest interest rate is 10 percent. I still have lots of debt at that rate, but I can actually pay it off now.

The couple of hundred a month I was paying to Chase will now go to the IRS and the State Department of Revenue for back taxes. Once that's paid off, I'll start chipping away at the other credit card debt. Whew...

A Case of Mistaken Identify

Straight from the "Keys in the Freezer" department, we have for you today a case of mistaken identity. Alert readers will recall I've been trying to provide documentation of my income and expenses to the Internal Revenue Service via FORM 433-F for weeks now.

It took me awhile to get it together. After all, we had our wedding anniversary, Mr. Poorhouse's birthday, Little Poorhouse's birthday, Halloween. Whew.

I try to instill a sense of thankfulness and manners in my kids. So Little Poorhouse spent two whole afternoons writing thank you notes for his many birthday presents.

In the meantime, I got the 433-F done, and sent it to the address given me. And the IRS lost it.

So Friday morning, on my way to work, I grabbed the manilla envelope off the front hall table, stopped by the post office and sent it to the new address the IRS agent had given me. Good for me. Another thing checked off.

Today, on my lunch break, I opened the manilla envelope with Little Poorhouse's thank yous so that I could put them in the mail.

Imagine my surprise and horror to discover in the envelope--my 433-F and all it's documentation. Which means--wait for it--that I sent Little Poorhouse's thank you notes to the IRS. Certified Mail. Return Receipt Requested.

This story isn't over yet. See this post for the next installment. 

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. 

The Dreaded IRS Form 433F--The Saga Continues

This post has been included in Tax Carnival #43 at Don't Mess with Taxes. For lots more tax cheer, head on over after you've rounded up all you can here.

Photo by Scot Campbell

About six weeks ago, in response to a request from the IRS, I started documenting my income and expenses on Form 433-F or Collection Information Statement. Unfortunately, lots of stuff happens around here in October and I didn't get it done until yesterday, so I had to start over.

The back story on this project is that I couldn't pay my federal taxes, and I tried to work out a payment agreement. The problem is the IRS thinks I can pay more than I think I can pay. So they reasonably asked me to document what I have and what I spend. The process is similar to applying for a mortgage--in other words, involved. And it was the same information requested in my interviews with the debt counseling folks. (I describe my differing results: greater success and not so much success) in earlier posts.)

I learned something in filling out the form that I will pass along to folks in a similar situation. First, the IRS reps will try to get you to answer the questions on the phone about your income and expenses and assets. Don't do it. It's too complicated. Request that they send you the form, take your time, and document everything accurately.

Second, you don't have to know exactly what your expenses are. After looking up the IRS's own national standards, I discovered I was UNDERestimating our expenses. The rules allow you to claim national and regional standards for some items.

So, I don't know how this will all turn out, but for now, I'm glad that I got this piece done and hopeful I didn't forget to put anything in the packet.

Incidentally, you can tell the frugality bug has hit me because I was annoyed that it cost over $4 to send the package. Wow. $4. When did postage go up so much?

Note:  To find out what happened next, see this post.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back--Now It's the IRS

Image via Wikipedia The other shoe fell today. I got 4, that's right F-O-U-R, registered letters from the IRS. Something has gone wrong with the payment plan I set up to pay off my back taxes from two years ago. Actually, two somethings have gone wrong:

1. They returned the payment plan application I sent in months ago because I left a blank on the form (at the instruction of the phone rep, I might add).

2. They are threatening to levy my wages (been there done that) because I couldn't afford to pay my 2007 taxes either (which I just filed). I actually got a refund on my 2006 taxes, which, together with my economic stimulus check, were immediately gobbled up by the previous year's outstanding balance. Such is the life of the self employed. Apparently, when you agree to a payment plan, you also agree to pay any current taxes as they become due. But I don't have the money to do that. The back story on all this is below.

I did open the letters right away, and I did call them right away, but nobody's home, so I'll have to try again in the morning. Wish me luck.