The joys of telephoning the IRS

[cjsmith]

I managed to telephone my supposed contact person this morning. What an ordeal!

Their phone menu system has a bug in it such that the menu choice for "your return is being examined" gave me "the help line for the Earned Income Credit," a very long recording. Zero, sadly, didn't work at any time; menu system designers are getting smarter about preventing actual phone contact.

I mucked about with other menu choices and found one with a short recording. When it asked whether that answered my question, I chose NO and got put on hold for 25 minutes. Progress!

I then reached what has to have been the dimmest bulb in the history of IRS phone help. She couldn't tell me what a "mortgage or land use contract" was -- she just said "whatever you have, send it". You betcha I got HER name and badge number to use in my letter!

My contact person as named in the letter is the supervisor for this sort of thing. Unlike the person I got this morning, I suspect she has more than one brain cell. Sadly, she wasn't available by phone.

*sigh* the process continues...

(btw: after thorough reading of everything they sent me, there's absolutely no question that this is "an audit". It's a small localized one (so far), and it doesn't require me to appear in person (so far), but don't let me kid myself. It's an audit.)

Comments

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

I have noticed that it is becoming even harder to talk to a person once you get a computerized menu. I didn't really think it *could* be harder, but (1) zero doesn't always work any more, (2) the operator button is often 4 or 7 or something unintuitive, and (3) the operator button whatever it may be doesn't work from every "screen". Annoying.

I'm sorry you have to deal with your taxes like this; what a total pain. I had such confusing taxes last year I really should have had someone professional do it (it took me weeks to figure everything out), but I'm a stubborn ass. I figure, if I can write a dissertation in the philosophy of math, I should be able to work through the IRS web site enough to do my own taxes, no matter what contingencies arise. I'm stupid that way.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I figure, if I can write a dissertation in the philosophy of math, I should be able to work through the IRS web site enough to do my own taxes, no matter what contingencies arise.

I honestly wonder how people who aren't that bright DEAL with stuff like this. Take forty points off your IQ, don't give you any extra money for things like professional tax preparers (or someone to represent you at an audit), and run this scenario again. It doesn't look easy. :-(

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

I know it. I live in constant fear of an audit as it is! I'm pretty sure I get everything right, but it's all so damned confusing. Just never work for a foreign government if you do your own taxes, that's all I can recommend.

You know, when I was a wee lass (18) and expecting the twins, and we couldn't afford to have the babies we were obviously going to have anyway, we went on Medicaid. It was the simplest level of welfare, and it still took all my mental powers to keep up with the paperwork. I have no idea how someone who's on food stamps and gets welfare checks and Medicaid and the whole kit and kaboodle could ever keep up with it all, regardless of their intellect. Imagine, now, that they're mentally handicapped, which many welfare recipients are.

I don't even know how they get by.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Amen. As St. George defended innocent villagers from dragons, we need a saint today to defend us from paperwork!