My IRS Woes

 Everyone who loves tax season, raise your hands...

I'm waiting...

Yeah, me neither.

Let me tell you about my tax woes and why the IRS is not on my Christmas list.

Back in March - early March - March 6, to be exact - I filed my taxes online. I used to file my taxes in February, right after I got my W-2, but last year I had an issue. My employer had not filed her taxes, and had not sent in my W-2, so my return was put on hold. I worked with the IRS Tax Advocates but my refund was held until June. So I figured this year I would give my employer's accountant a little extra time and I'd file in March. Of course, no one knew at that time that our entire nation would be on lockdown for the next three months...

Within a couple of weeks of checking to see if my return was processed, I knew something was wrong. Everyone who had filed after me had already received their refund. On March 27 the dreaded message "Your tax return is still being processed" came up on my IRS2Go status. It was my oldest son's birthday so I decided I'd call the tax advocate office on Monday. There was no answer, but I left a message. Keep in mind, at this time we were looking at being on lockdown for a couple of weeks, then maybe a month, then we'd see what would happen. No one knew how long this quarantine was gonna last. I figured they'd come into the office, at least to listen to messages. I left another message the following Monday, April 6. I decided at this time to also mail in my request for assistance, again thinking someone would be coming into the office to check messages and/or mail. I tried calling the IRS as well, but no answer and no way to leave a message. Surprisingly though, I did receive the stimulus money in April because I'd received a refund for the 2018 tax year. At least they didn't hold that back too.

Finally, on July 10 I was able to talk to an IRS agent. They told me they still had not received a W-2 from my employer. What upset me the most was that I knew they had the numbers, because after the problem with my 2018 taxes I personally made sure that tax payments and paperwork were being sent in. My employer was upset as well, and she called her accountant who assured her all paperwork had been submitted to the IRS, but to be on the safe side he'd resend. Of course there was nothing I could do at this point, since the IRS will inform you NOT to call them again for 60 days after they've checked status. So I had to wait.

I finally received a letter from the IRS on July 25. It was a generic letter stating that they were still verifying any number of problems, including verifying employment. I realized they'd only generated the letter because I'd called in. This letter said I was to wait 60 days from the day the letter was generated, which was July 22, before I could call them. But since I'd talked to an agent on the 10th I decided I'd wait 60 days from that date and if I hadn't received my refund I'd call then.

September 10 I tried calling the IRS several times, only to get cut off. I called the Tax Advocates instead, and explained my situation. I was asked if I was in danger of being evicted from my home (I'm not) or of having my utilities cut off (again, I'm not). Since I was not in dire straits, they told me they couldn't help me but would transfer me to an IRS agent. I spent two hours on the phone with a very sweet lady out in Texas who was extremely helpful. She was able to tell me that yes, my employment and income had been verified (hurray!) but my return was still on hold (boo). At first she blamed the pandemic and being shut down for three months, but as she reviewed my account she said there might be another error, this time with one of my credits (what?!?!). The system kept going down so she wasn't able to verify, but instead she gave me another number to call so I could find out from this other department if that was a problem as well. Trouble was, their system was down too. It took a couple more calls to their office to find out that everything on my return looked good, but now it was pending manual release by yet another IRS agent and I would now have to wait 60 days from August 13 before I could call them again, though it did appear I would be getting my refund in OCTOBER!! My frustration was mounting but once again, there was nothing I could do.

On Saturday September 19 I received a call from none other that the Tax Advocates office. The lady there told me they'd received the forms I had mailed asking for help in resolving my issue with the IRS. Remember, I mailed out the forms April 6. Here it is over 5 months later and they finally are getting to the mail. She asked if I still needed help, so I explained everything that had gone on since March, including the fact that the Tax Advocate office had refused to help me because my case was not considered urgent enough. She was surprised at that, and said based on my application I did qualify. They gave me a case number and said I would receive a call from their attorney sometime this week. 

As of today, I'm still waiting. My biggest complaint in all this is not the fact that my return was held up again (though that's pretty annoying). It's not that a pandemic hit and the hold was extended - everyone has been affected by the quarantine. It isn't even that they are behind after being shut down for three months - I'm not an unreasonable person. My issue is the fact that it took two separate departments to verify and approve my return, but it is now pending a "manual release" by yet another agent who has to review the entire return and give it an okay. Good grief! How many IRS agents do you need to (screw in a lightbulb?) approve one return?! I thank God everyday that I'm not in a position of losing my home or unable to feed myself and my son. I'm thankful that He has provided for all our needs. I can only imagine how desperate it must be to really need this money and to have it held up. I will continue to wait, call if I need to, and pray for those who are also struggling with the IRS. I feel your pain.

The Week In Review

 Every week is a little different. Some are better than others. This one had its good moments, but challenges are never far behind.

As I noted on my previous post, fall decorating has been happening this week. I love any kind of decorating so I've enjoyed putting out new things and seeing how my older treasures mesh with the new to create a look that is warm and inviting. Part two of the fall home transformation is forthcoming :-).

Back in March of this year I filed my taxes, like many in America. To this day I have not received my refund. Six months and I've gotten the run-around several times. Well, that's not entirely true. The first four months I got nothing at all. The nation was on shutdown, and that included the IRS. I tried calling multiple times but was unable to get a human being on the line. I called the IRS tax advocates who'd helped me last year, but they were closed as well. I mailed in my request for them to help, in case someone was at least collecting the mail. Nothing. Finally, on July 10 I was able to connect with the tax advocates who transferred me to an actual representative at the IRS. What they said was that they hadn't received the W-2's from my employer to verify if the numbers on my return were correct. I couldn't believe it. I personally had filed the quarterly reports, and my boss had made the payments via credit card on their website, so I knew they had the numbers. There was nothing I could do on that end, because once you call and they give you information, you aren't allowed to call again for 60 days. So I texted my boss and told her what was going on.

Within a couple of days she texted me back that her accountant had indeed filed the W-2's but he would send them in again just in case. The IRS finally generated a letter on July 22 stating that my return was being verified for accuracy. This letter should have gone out months before but because of the pandemic it never did. I was so annoyed, because they sent a generic form letter 12 days after my phone call that basically told me nothing new. Meanwhile I was checking regularly to see if my return was processed. No such luck.

September 10 was the 60 day deadline, which meant I could call the IRS once more. I tried a couple of different numbers but all I got was recording after recording and then got cut off. I decided to try the tax advocates again. I was able to get through to them after a 20 minute wait. Unfortunately they weren't able to help me as far as getting my return processed because they didn't consider me to be going through a hardship, since I'm not facing eviction nor having my utilities cut off. Once again, I was annoyed. It's like lending your best friend money and they promise to pay by a certain day, but when that day comes they ask if you really need your money back. The only good thing was that she transferred me to an IRS customer helpline. 

After a long wait I finally was connected to a very helpful woman who was on the phone with me for a whole hour trying to get the information squared away, despite their system going down several times. She was able to confirm that yes, they did receive employment verification, but with the pandemic and shutdowns they were way behind on releasing returns for payment. I couldn't understand how she, in Texas, could see the verification but the processing center, in Pennsylvania, hadn't. This rep told me there was a possibility that something else was wrong with my return, possibly with the credits. Since the system kept locking her out she wasn't able to tell me anything else, but instead gave me a number to call and see if they could help. I called but, yet again, the systems were down. I was told I could call them back or put myself on a 30 day waiting list for callback. I said thanks but I'd call them.

The next day I went out and picked up some groceries from Walmart and Publix. It wasn't a lot, just a few things I needed that I hadn't gotten the week before or that we'd run out of.

This was pretty much the bulk of what I got from Walmart. I did pick up a couple of things that weren't food:

The grays are starting to show again. Ugh. My hair grows so fast, which is a blessing and a curse at the same time. The sponges are the Real Techniques brand, because I can get two of them for $7.50 as opposed to the Beauty Blender that's $20 for just one. Most people will say the Beauty Blender is better quality. That might be so, but I love the Real Techniques sponges and they last me a good while if I keep them clean.

The Publix shopping haul was even smaller:

Basically I went to Publix for their deli ham and cheese which is my favorite, and while I was there I saw they had English muffins and Italian ices on sale, buy one get one free. And everyone knows Publix has the best sweet tea, and it was also on sale. Bonus!

Before going to the grocery stores I stopped at Home Depot. Back in June I was trying to do some rearranging in my living room and I'd decided to switch out a picture I had at the top of the stairs with something more open, like the wall art piece I'd bought for my master bedroom. I like changing things around like that. It's a metal piece and it looked so good in that spot, except that there were several nail holes in the wall that had been covered by the picture but wouldn't be by this metal piece. So I filled in the holes and got some paint from the garage that the previous owner had left. The main living area has two different shades of beige color, one slightly darker than the other. I looked at both paints and picked the one that looked lighter, since that's what I needed for this wall. This is what happened:

 I was absolutely mortified!! How had I picked up the wrong paint?! I looked at both of them again. I even tried the slightly darker one. Then I realized what had happened. The can of lighter paint was over 10 years old. This paint had obviously gone bad and had turned dark. I can't even begin to explain how frustrated I was! Thankfully I found a great piece at Hobby Lobby that covered the spot completely.

The original price for this wall sign was $60 but I got it on clearance for $17.50. I like it because it has no glass in front of it, so there's no glare from the window. 

So, back to Home Depot. I'd picked up a bunch of paint chips and matched the color as best I could, since the label on the paint can doesn't say what color they used and I can't take the spoiled paint because it's the wrong color. I settled on one paint sample that seemed to fit the bill, and I got a sample of it.

Ugh! I was close but this time it was too light. I was gonna add another coat to cover up the dark spot underneath (even though this paint is supposed to be paint + primer) but it would still be too light. Back to the old drawing board.

After I got home from grocery shopping I tried calling the number for the IRS that the rep gave me. I got a recording that said the call volume was too high and call again later. I'm not giving up. 

Oh, and did I mention the tropical depression that formed off the coast of South Florida on Friday that put all of South Florida on a tropical storm watch? Yeah, that happened. Thankfully it didn't amount to anything other than a lot of rain and wind but nothing out of the ordinary. Another bullet dodged. Sadly, it has turned into Tropical Storm Sally and is expected to become Hurricane Sally before it lands somewhere near New Orleans. Praying for these folks.

I got to serve in children's ministry this Saturday. Churches in South Florida are slowly starting to open again, though to limited capacity. I haven't served since the pandemic started back in March. It was great to get back to the kids and teach. 

And that's a glimpse into my week. Stay tuned, there's more to come. Have a blessed week.