does the IRS ever make mistakes??? my girlfriend just received a letter saying she owes xx,xxx from 2005 -?

Question

we filed a truthful tax form in 05 and every yr previous and cant imagine why this is...

i just need some peace of mind, someone to tell me that IRS has been known to make mistakes..

thanks

Answer 1

As a former IRS drone (a period of my life I refer to lovingly as "that time I leased my soul"), I can tell you that mistakes can and do occur.

However, the IRS will make you PROVE it's a mistake. And do not assume that you didn't do anything wrong, so you can ignore it. That's the fastest way to make absolutely certain you end up in a lot of trouble. (Like they could start placing tax liens on any property she owns, or even property you own jointly, plus they could start garnishing her wages.)

She needs to contact them and do it NOW. It's entirely possible that someone has stolen her identity. The latest thing in stolen identities is to steal a social security # (regardless of credit rating), sell it to an illegal alien, who then gets a job and doesn't pay taxes... It may be years later, but the IRS will eventually catch it and guess why come after? Yep, that's right. This is also why you need to check to see if you have identity theft coverage on your homeowners/tenant policy (and/or a stand-alone policy.) Sometimes credit card companies will offer it, but those are almost always limited to how these things impact your CREDIT and there are even worse things than having your credit screwed up (like having the IRS breathing down your neck!)

Seriously -- advise you girlfriend to get in touch with the IRS as soon as possible. And if she doesn't have a broad Identity Theft policy, she needs to get one. (You can sometimes add it onto an existing homeowners/tenant/condo policy for $50 or so a year.)

Good luck!

Answer 2

It could be a mistake - but in any case, she needs to respond to the letter in the time given, and take care of whatever the problem is.

The biggest way that you get a notice like this, for huge sums of money that you don't really owe, is if you sold stocks and didn't report the sale on your tax return. The IRS gets information on the sale amount, but not on what you bought them for, so assesses tax on the total sale amount since they don't know what your real gain was. It's then up to you to prepare the corrected schedule D to show what your gain REALLY was and a corrected 1040 to show what your tax really should be. The letter can be enough to give you heart failure, but the problem is pretty easy to fix, and the IRS sees a lot of these.

Once in awhile, someone else is using your social security number and really messing things up. This would have to be sorted out with the IRS.

The letter should say what the problem is - what additional income they think she had. Read throuh the whole thing, and if it doesn't make sense, call the IRS and ask them to explain it.

Answer 3

The irs has made mistakes before, but usually if they send a notice like that, they usually send along with the letter, as to why she owes tax. Either they have additional income reported to them by someone that was not on her return, or they didn't receive a payment, or something. If there isn't anything with the letter saying why they are charging her extra, there should be a number to call on the letter for any questions.

Answer 4

Yes. When I was in high school. It was a little awkward. The guy had expressed interest in me and I turned him down because my closest friend had a crush on him. So he started dating her. He then proceeded to give the both of us duplicate love letters stating, not only how infatuated he was, but that he would like to have both of us at the same time. On top of that, he added three pages explaining that he was a werewolf and had 'legitimate proof' of such things. Obviously, their relationship ended pretty fast. My closest friend is still just that. We laugh about it now and then. I've heard he's married now. Good on him. But shyte was pretty out there. Even for us. Haha!

Answer 5

Ofcourse they make mistakes, they are human right?

The most disturbing thing is that if you call the IRS for advice on something, and the person you speak to gives you the wrong information, you are still liable for any taxes that he didnt tell you about.

I would write to them and inquire about about this matter, you sound like an honest person who would do the right thing, and it would be unlikely you could have overlooked such a grievous mistake.

Answer 6

OMG the IRS makes tons of mistakes. My husband gets IRS forms here for him and I as well as him and his ex. He has gotten repeated letters regarding taxes with his ex, and they have been divorced for over 6 years. He gets letters about money he owes when he does not. Trust me, the IRS is not goof proof. They make plenty of mistakes and at the cost of the tax payers.

Answer 7

yes .. errors occur.

one possible source of a large bill like this is that someone else is using your gf's ssn and the IRS has just finished trying to match the total reported W-2s to your gf's tax return.

Since they wouldn't match up, they send out a notice.

it means there's something she needs to discover about 2005 -- it may not mean that she has done anything wrong at all.


find out what this is about. sometimes the form tells you

Answer 8

no there the worst