Friendly IRS

Over the course of the years, I have filed more than a few US tax returns.

Earlier in my life I was a newspaper reporter/photographer/editor.

With a wanderlust.

I worked newspapers in California, Florida, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming. I've crossed the country coast to coast and from north to south.

Some times the papers paid mileage, some times not.

Some times the papers paid relocation, some times not.

One (Newhouse's Harrisburg Patriot-News) charged me to park in the lot.

Back in the day, mileage was a tax deduction.

So my tax returns went from 0 mileage to "lots" of mileage.

When I did a cross-country jaunt - Florida to California, for example - my mileage was high.

Each time I filed by 1040 (there was no "EZ" in those days) I'd staple a note to the form telling the person who got it for review why it was different from the previous year.

To the best of my knowledge, my returns never were audited.

At least I was never "invited" to come in for a chat with my friendly IRS auditor.

But earlier this year I got a message from IRS telling me it reviewed by 2006 return and the IRS decided to disallow a deduction.

Why?

One phone call to the IRS to define the problem.

Turns out I did a very brief contract gig for a company and the company, despite my instructions to the contrary, set me up in its pension plan.

The IRS reviewer saw a contribution to a personal pension plan and also saw that the W-2 from the contracting house had the pension plan box checked, indicating I was in the company's plan.

What to do?

I called the company and explained the problem. The person on the other end was sympathetic. She said that the company contracts with another company to do the payroll and that the "pension" box is automatically checked. (Remember, I specifically told the company to exclude me from its pension plan.)

I asked for a corrected W-2.

We can't do that, she said.

"But," she offered, "we can send you a letter stating that you were not in the pension plan."

Well, OK, I replied, adding that if that fails to satisfy the IRS I'd be back.

Her letter, on letterhead as requested, arrived a few days after the call.

I put my cover letter to it and sent it all to the IRS.

Worst case, the IRS rejects the letters.

Time goes by.

No word from the IRS - neither positive (all is OK) or negative (pay up).

The Financial Manager and I were discussing it and wondering.

The day after our discussion we received The Letter From the IRS.

In the great IRS-Glenn Tradition, the IRS reviewer accepted the (documented) explanation and its letter to us said, basically, "Thanks, everything is cleared up."

Bottom line: once again the feared IRS proves to be, at least for this taxpayer, "human."

I know it has its detractors, and no one enjoys paying taxes (and compared to other countries, we pay a pittance, but then there's not much ROI), but credit where it's due; the IRS isn't (always) the ogre its made out.

We complain, loudly and publicly, about organizations when they fail us; I think we should acknowledge them when something goes right, as well.

Yohanon
Yohanon.Glenn @ gmail.com