I ain't doing no ghetto thang. Lol.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/hou...int-doing-no-playing

By Stepheny Price Fox News
Published April 15, 2024 9:51pm EDT


An IRS office in Houston was forced to close early over the weekend – just two days before the Tax Day deadline – after a fight broke out and people rushed into the building to get help with their taxes.

It happened during the IRS' Tax Assistance event. Hundreds of people lined up early Saturday morning in hopes of getting help with their taxes before the Monday deadline, but were blindsided as the office abruptly closed due to a fight between two people waiting in line.

"They opened the gates like around 9 or 10 a.m. and I think a couple of people started fighting, so after that, they told everybody to go home," Katrel Johnson, a visitor at the tax center who drove more than two hours for tax help, told FOX 26.

To add more chaos to the situation, FOX 26 reported that a large crowd of people tried to enter the building at the same time.

"All of a sudden everybody went in when they opened the door, and bum rushed and started skipping," said Tonya Johnson, a visitor at the IRS center.

The office was supposed to close at 4 pm, according to website hours, but instead closed right before 11 am, leaving many frustrated.

"I ain’t doing no playing. This is the second month I came out here, and I’m not going to play with the IRS," one angry taxpayer told FOX 26.

n a statement sent to FOX 26, the IRS said in part- "delays on Saturday occurred due to overwhelming taxpayer demand for assistance, and the IRS is committed to serving those who weren’t able to receive help in person."

"Unfortunately, they did everything as a walk-in, no appointments and that’s really what caused all these problems," said Henry Castro, another visitor at the IRS center.

The IRS also said it tried to collect the names and numbers of people who were unable to get help. It promised to offer further assistance to them throughout the week and to fully staff its offices and phone lines.

The deadline to file taxes, or file for an extension, is Monday, April 15.

Fox News Digital reached out to the IRS for comment, but has yet to hear back.

quote:

"I ain’t doing no playing. This is the second month I came out here, and I’m not going to play with the IRS," one angry taxpayer told FOX 26.

[sarcasm]I bet the IRS is quaking in their loafers[/sarcasm]

My lovely and exceptional wife volunteered to mail the return last night at the main regional post office in our area (they stayed open "late" - until 8:00PM). She spent an hour in line, and later said she had expected it to be two hours. Per her report, everyone was decent and patiently waiting their turn with little to no attempts at line jumping, or other disruptive activities. She said there were only three clerk stations manned, with usually one of the postal employees leaving their station vacant, and no postal employees working the line to help out. Not that you could expect a crowd on 4/15. Oh yeah, the self-serve kiosks (3 of them) were all down.

A far cry from the days before e-filing when the very same PO lined up stations on the street, and serviced filers right in their cars. I guess people don't drive those evil gas-guzzling cars any more. Another thing that worked much better in the olden days.

quote:

An IRS office in Houston was forced to close early over the weekend – just two days before the Tax Day deadline

No sympathy; not when you wait until just before the deadline to get 'help' doing your taxes.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
My lovely and exceptional wife volunteered to mail the return last night at the main regional post office in our area (they stayed open "late" - until 8:00PM). She spent an hour in line, and later said she had expected it to be two hours. Per her report, everyone was decent and patiently waiting their turn with little to no attempts at line jumping, or other disruptive activities. She said there were only three clerk stations manned, with usually one of the postal employees leaving their station vacant, and no postal employees working the line to help out. Not that you could expect a crowd on 4/15. Oh yeah, the self-serve kiosks (3 of them) were all down.

A far cry from the days before e-filing when the very same PO lined up stations on the street, and serviced filers right in their cars. I guess people don't drive those evil gas-guzzling cars any more. Another thing that worked much better in the olden days.

are you not also able to e-file as others are doing?

are there some tax situations that disallow one to e-file??

I heard a great joke:

Taxpayer: "Can you just tell me how much I owe in taxes and I'll go pay it?"
IRS: "No, you have to guess and do your best effort to guess."
Taxpayer: "You mean I can just pay whatever I think I owe and you'll take it?"
"IRS: "No. We know exactly how much you owe and you're going to have to guess."

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:

are you not also able to e-file as others are doing?

I don't trust e-file. Partly because I don't want to give income/expenses/investment information to a third party with no incentive not to market it, but also to preserve the ability to answer an audit. Too many software options have disappeared over my lifetime for me to trust that the necessary bits will be available should I need them.

quote:

are there some tax situations that disallow one to e-file??

I don't think the IRS has mandates in this regard, but software providers certainly do not support all forms/situations in an e-file scenario (not that this has anything to do with my preference for paper forms).

WRT the timing, I am a terrible procrastinator when it comes to tax filing, and many other things. For a few decades, back when my tax situation was more compicated, I would almost always file an extension and payment on 4/15, and not have things complete until 10/15. I have learned a little discipline since then, but I am still always up against the 4/15 deadline, mostly because there is always something more time-sensitive, or important on my to do list. It doesn't help that Mrs. A's birthday is 4/14!