Member-only story
The IRS Does the Right Thing
Even if it took them over a year
Over 2 years ago, a funny thing happened. I received a letter from the IRS telling me I’d be receiving a check from them in the next 30 days. The very next day when I checked my bank account, I found a 10k direct deposit from the US Treasury. So much for the snail mail check.
There was no explanation as to why the IRS was forwarding ten thousand dollars — and I sure wasn’t going to ask — especially in the middle of a pandemic when no doubt, they would be especially difficult to get on the phone.
One year later, I got another letter from the feared agency. They’d fucked up and wanted their 10k back with interest. Back then, bank accounts were paying virtually nothing to depositors. Yet the IRS wanted 2% on the money they’d mistakenly “lent” me.
My first call to the agency was received by a woman who said if I paid the amount in full, the agency would delete the interest charge. That seemed fair. But in the next 5 calls, nobody who answered would verify what the first person had said.
Finally, the 6th rep (and one of the rudest people I’ve ever spoken with on any phone) told me I’d better pay in full — which I did. I’d had enough of the agency’s blundering (and plundering in my case as I’d been robbed of over $4 million and thrown in prison…
