Ah, the IRS. You know how those letters from them strike fear into your heart when they arrive? Well, I got one today, requesting payment for my 2006 taxes. Funny thing is, I’d sent that payment early in April, and it had already cleared the bank and everything. Unfortunately, I was having trouble logging into our bank account, so I had to call Mark at work in San Francisco and get him to fax me a copy of the canceled check.
After waiting on hold with the IRS for about half an hour (during which time I managed both to microwave and eat my dinner), I finally spoke with a very nice and competent lady in Memphis, who sounded a little like Fran Drescher and who manged to find my payment, which had been posted to someone else’s account. Per “Fran”, the guy’s name and social security number weren’t even close to mine.
It started me thinking and I remembered something similar happening to me about ten years ago. The issue then was that the IRS had apparently established two different accounts for me using the same social security number and that my checks were randomly being applied to one or the other, causing lots of laughs for me and the poor rep who had to deal with it.
Anyhow, it’s all fixed now. But somehow I can’t help feeling I’ll probably get at least one more threatening letter before it’s all over.
