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Filing Means Never Having To Be Who You Say You Are ... A Tax Story

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by doctorquant, Apr 15, 2015.

  1. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    OK, so this is absolutely NOT intended to be a political thread. That said ...

    First, a little background: For our federal taxes, my wife and I do "Married Filing Jointly." The great bulk of our income comes from me, and making sure enough taxes get withheld for that part of it is fairly straightforward. However, I do a very little bit of consulting, and my wife practices as an independent contractor. My consulting income's small, but her income does appreciably affect our tax bill. It's hard to hit it exactly, so most years we owe (or get back) something in the range of $2K to $3K.

    Anyway, in 2013 I wound up getting some fairly lucrative teaching overload opportunities, which came in mighty handy with my oldest off at college. However, the extra income (and my children getting older) nudged me out of several tax breaks (credits, deductions, etc.) I'd factored into my tax planning. So I/we wound up owing a good bit more than usual (in the neighborhood of $10K). I didn't have it on-hand at the time, so I signed up (and was approved) for an installment agreement. I've been making regular payments and should be done with it no later than this fall.

    So, yesterday I came home to a letter from the IRS. According to the IRS, my 2014 refund of approximately $3K will be applied toward my 2013 balance due. Sounds good, right? Only one problem ...

    I haven't even filed our 2014 return!

    Obviously someone out there's filed a return with at least some of my information. The joke's on them, of course, because that refund ain't happening. Unfortunately for me, that adds a whole new layer of cluster-fuck to my getting everything squared away (I'd hoped to be done, temporarily, with the IRS by mid-summer).

    Ugh.
     
  2. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    First-world problem.
     
    doctorquant likes this.
  3. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    I read a story where criminals are filing returns for people who they think will get a return and since, if you don't get direct deposit, it now comes in the form of a debit card, they are proving popular with thieves.
     
  4. TyWebb

    TyWebb Well-Known Member

    I now work in marketing for one of the larger companies that does prepaid and reloadable debit cards and I can confirm that this is absolutely true. People are raising holy hell about their taxes already being filed and their returns being applied to a debit card that didn't go to them.

    Prepaid and reloadable debit cards are the fraud loophole of the present/future because credit cards are getting harder to rip off. The past two tax seasons, when getting returns on a debit card has become more popular, had a significant uptick in fraud.

    Things generally get worked out, but not without significant hassle.
     
  5. Dyno

    Dyno Well-Known Member

    That's been happening more and more over the last few years. I know a couple of people it's happened to and it's a nightmare to get resolved. (Sorry.) I filed my taxes pretty early and I still held my breath that the return would go through. Hope it gets cleared up for you quickly.
     
  6. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    Da Woman got a letter from the IRS this year asking her to confirm the 1040-EZ form that was filed in her name, with her SS number on it. It was not hers -- we've filed a joint return for more than 20 years. We had to fill out an affidavit and send it, along with a copy of her driver's license, when we filed our real return a few weeks later, as well as jumping through a few other hoops.
     
  7. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    The IRS needs to join the 21st century and establish a a secure user account system.
     
  8. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    Well, as numerous print and broadcast pieces have noted, cutting the IRS's budget has become a high profile sport in Washington.

    The John Oliver segment, as I recall, said the IRS was still using magnetic tape for data storage.
     
  9. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Another sign of the crumbling infrastructure.
     
  10. Roscablo

    Roscablo Well-Known Member

    It's amazing how easy this is with the IRS. I mean, you'd think that's something they'd like to lock down.
     
  11. Ric Flair

    Ric Flair Member

  12. Dyno

    Dyno Well-Known Member

    They have some kind of PIN system that purports to be an extra layer of security, but you can only apply to use it after you've had a fraud issue. I would happily jump through the extra hoop in advance, but it's not an option. My SSN was compromised in the Anthem data breach, so I feel like it's just a matter of time before something bad happens with it.
     
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