quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
alinc100, thanks for posting that link. And wouldn't you know it? My letter is not one that qualifies me to use the website. Which I am OK with, since they wanted me to submit a credit card number. That would be totally secure, right? I will just wait this out to see if they actually set up an an appointment with the local IRS office. Any bets on when or if that happens?
I fully understand that lots of fraudulent returns are being sent in to IRS. And them wanting to verify my ID is fine too. The stupid factors in when you actually try to work with them to get this done.

Credit card number?

That screams SCAM to me. Unless they owe you, I'd ignore that letter. And even then I'd be God damned if I give them a credit card number.

The CC number is not really required... unless it's the only valid way out of 4 or 5 options that is offered! There are several other ways to confirm your identity without giving a CC number...

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Originally posted by Blume9mm:
I for years did my own filing... one man business and operation... no bean counter other than me....

Never paid estimated taxes and usually filed and then had to pay monthly for the next year to be caught up before the next filing.... the bean counters will tell you this is bad and cost like crazy in penalties and interest....

well, a few years back I filed and paid half of what I owed... three months later I get the letter and instead of making the payment plan I realized I could pay it all off... then I went and looked at how much it cost me in penalties and interest to not pay estimated taxes and all of it ahead of time.... I still have the amount posted on my wall of fame: $23.69!

#1 rule in life:
"Don't believe everything they tell you."

You must have a very odd set of facts or you have an error in your computations.

I have clients that choose to not pay quarterly estimated tax payments because the 'penalty' is tied to market interest rates. As we all know, interest rates are very low right now. A few years ago the penalty rates were like 13% - at that time client generally chose to make estimated tax payments. However, I generally see penalties of 2k-5k (you must not owe much tax if your penalty was $24.00)

There is a second set of penalties (late file and late pay) that apply if you don't have your taxes paid in by April 15th. That can be 5% per month with a maximum of 25%. Those penalty can get your attention in a hurry. (AT the risk of TMI, if you extend your return, you can avoid the penalties if you have at least 90% of your taxes paid by April 15)

Bottom line - what works for you (in your unique facts set) is an enjoyable story but probably not the approach others would want to take.

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Originally posted by smlsig:

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Originally posted by bronicabill:

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Originally posted by Fed161:
<<snip>> If you can't get this done on line, contact your congressman and ask for help resolving this. Congressional staffers have access to phone numbers that actually get answered.

I tried this with my congresscritter and got zero response!

I hope I have better luck than you did…
My 5 figure refund is more than 3 months overdue. It was filed by my CPA electronically and received by them the next day (got a confirmation email). The website and phone calls are useless so I fired off a note to one of my democratic senators and they sent me a form to fill out.earlier this week. I’ll give them a week and start bugging the shit out of them. We’ll see if this has any effect…

Based on last year - probably will not help. The only good outcome is you will get your refund at some point and you will be paid interest.