You ever have one of those days where you question why you entered a certain profession? I mean, really question your decision? I’ve been a tax accountant for 4 years now (hard to believe) and I used to question my decision. A lot. But after 4 years, you just seem to become numb to the pain and the question presents itself less and less often. Of course, after a couple years, you also turn into a scrooge, so perhaps the question is now just part of who you are. (I used to be a nice person. I still keep wondering what happened.)
Yesterday was one of those days in which the question again presented itself. Not only that, but it presented itself first thing in the morning. Allow me to elaborate.
A client that I work on has a return that is due today. On Monday, we reminded the client of the tax payment that they needed to make by today. They stated that they would do so, but asked if we could let them know how they needed to pay.
Simple enough really. I went to the IRS website and determined how they could pay Uncle Sam his money. There are two ways. First, they could pay electronically. Second, they could pay with a check that was attached to a specific tax form. I relayed this information to the client thinking that everything was hunky dorey. Quality service at its finest!
I received a response back stating that they could not pay electronically because they weren’t set up in the system. I figured they could probably register pretty easily and make the payment that day. Nope. It takes 15 days to process the registration. By my math, a payment due in 2 days could not be paid electronically when the registration process took 15 days. That option was out. Remember this...
The response also asked me to send them the form that was needed. Simple enough. I popped over to the IRS website, found the form, and opened it. Much to my chagrin, there was a huge watermark over it stating that the form that was online was for informational purposes only. Huh? That doesn’t make much sense. So I started reading the instructions to the form. As it turned out, the form was a machine readable form and had to be printed with special ink with margins that were specially printed. Only in America. The form also stated that you could obtain a copy from your local IRS office.
Now, being in the tax profession, you can understand that we have interactions with the IRS all the time. Sometimes it’s over the phone, sometimes it’s by letter, and sometimes it’s in person. Obviously, there’s this kind of “them against us” type of attitude amongst the tax professionals because they feel the IRS is out to get their clients. Tax professionals don’t tend to the like the IRS much.
I try to take a different view. They are just like me. They are just trying to do their job by assessing the right amount of tax as required by the laws of our country. I try to cut them some slack and I tend to think that my attitude stems from the fact that my grandfather worked for the IRS for many, many years. He took pride in his job and the work that he did and I admired that. He was very successful in his time despite his lack of a high school or college degree. The IRS was good to him, and he was good to the IRS.
Somehow, I just think things have changed since Grandpap left. I stopped by the IRS office that was downtown (remember, this is all on MONDAY). Unfortunately, they were closed. It appears that the air conditioning went out in their office (and their office only...in a building with 50 or 60 floors) so everyone went home. Minor set-back. The tax payment wasn’t due until Wednesday which means it had to be postmarked by the time the post office closed.
Time for Plan B. I would go to a different IRS office and pick up the form and then send it to the client via courier. That should be plenty of time to fill it out and mail it in. Only problem was that I didn’t have my car because I took the bus (as I always do). No big deal. I would work from home a little on Tuesday, drive to the other location, pick up the form, send it to the client, have her fill it out, and tell her to mail it in. After all, she would have all afternoon on Tuesday and all day Wednesday. Perfect.
So yesterday, everything was going to plan. I got some work done at home and I managed to find the IRS office. They opened at 8:30; I got there around 8:40 and there were a ton of people. Thank goodness I only had to pick up a form! My turn finally came and here’s how the encounter went:
Me: “Is this where I pick up tax forms?”
IRS: “Yes, it is.”
Great! I’m at the right place! This is going to be a piece of cake.
Me: “Ok. I need to pick up Form 8109 please. Actually, I may need to get a couple of them.”
IRS: “8109 isn’t a form. It’s a coupon.”
:: sigh :: Whatever.
Me: “Ok. I need to pick up Coupon 8109 please. Actually, I may need to get a couple of them.”
IRS: “I’m sorry. We don’t hand out those coupons.”
Um...uh oh.
Me: “Uh... So, if someone needs to make a tax payment, how do they go about doing so?”
IRS: “Well, there are a couple ways. They can either pay online or they can pay with the 8109 coupon.”
Hmmm....
Me: “Ok. I need to get an 8109 coupon to make a tax payment.”
IRS: “I’m sorry. I can’t just give you the coupon.”
Gettin’ a little annoyed.
Me: “Ok. Let me explain my situation. I have a client. They have a tax payment due tomorrow. They are not registered to make an online payment. How do they make their payment.”
IRS: “Sir, they can either pay online or with the coupon.”
Me: “They are not registered to make a payment online. How long does it take to register?”
I asked that question knowing the answer.
IRS: “It takes 15 days.”
Me: “Again, they have to make the payment tomorrow. Is the online payment an option?”
IRS: “I guess not if they aren’t registered.”
Finally, we have knocked out one of the options. On to the coupon!
Me: “Ok, so their only viable option is the coupon, correct?”
IRS: “Yes.”
Me: “Can I have the coupon to give to the client?”
IRS: “I’m sorry, but no. The client has to come in and register with an agent and make the payment here.”
What the fruit??? The client has to come in, sit down, register with an agent, get the coupon, fill it out there, and make the payment? This is asinine.
Me: “Ma’am, I feel as though I left out a crucial piece of information. The client has a broken leg. It is her driving leg. She is the only employee in Houston. She cannot get to an IRS office. That is why I am here.”
All true. No lie.
IRS: “Do you have authorization?”
Me: “Yes, the client sent me here to get the form.”
Duh.
IRS: “No, I mean written authorization.”
Me: “Like a power of attorney?”
IRS: “Yes.”
Me: “No.”
IRS: “Then I’m sorry. I can’t give you the form.”
Uncle Sam is making ME work for HIS money!
Me: “Ok. So the client is out of options. She cannot pay online because it takes too long to register. She cannot print the form off the IRS website. And you will not give the form to me to send to her to complete. At this point, none of the options that ‘available’.”
IRS: “Sir, there are two”
Me: :: interrupting :: “Please do not tell me there are two options. I believe we have been over this extensively. Here is what I am going to do. I am going to tell the client to simply write a check. I am going to tell her to include that check with the extension. I am going to tell her to mail both of those things to the processing center. Is that ok?”
IRS: “Most people prefer to use the coupon...”
This conversation was over a long time ago. At this point, I just turned around and left. I mean, really. Doesn’t Uncle Sam want his money? The instructions state that you can obtain a FORM 8109 at a local IRS office. What they don’t tell you is that you will end up wondering whether your career choice was one big mistake. That’s pretty much how I’m feeling right now. One big mistake.
I guess it was just one of those days...
Yesterday was one of those days in which the question again presented itself. Not only that, but it presented itself first thing in the morning. Allow me to elaborate.
A client that I work on has a return that is due today. On Monday, we reminded the client of the tax payment that they needed to make by today. They stated that they would do so, but asked if we could let them know how they needed to pay.
Simple enough really. I went to the IRS website and determined how they could pay Uncle Sam his money. There are two ways. First, they could pay electronically. Second, they could pay with a check that was attached to a specific tax form. I relayed this information to the client thinking that everything was hunky dorey. Quality service at its finest!
I received a response back stating that they could not pay electronically because they weren’t set up in the system. I figured they could probably register pretty easily and make the payment that day. Nope. It takes 15 days to process the registration. By my math, a payment due in 2 days could not be paid electronically when the registration process took 15 days. That option was out. Remember this...
The response also asked me to send them the form that was needed. Simple enough. I popped over to the IRS website, found the form, and opened it. Much to my chagrin, there was a huge watermark over it stating that the form that was online was for informational purposes only. Huh? That doesn’t make much sense. So I started reading the instructions to the form. As it turned out, the form was a machine readable form and had to be printed with special ink with margins that were specially printed. Only in America. The form also stated that you could obtain a copy from your local IRS office.
Now, being in the tax profession, you can understand that we have interactions with the IRS all the time. Sometimes it’s over the phone, sometimes it’s by letter, and sometimes it’s in person. Obviously, there’s this kind of “them against us” type of attitude amongst the tax professionals because they feel the IRS is out to get their clients. Tax professionals don’t tend to the like the IRS much.
I try to take a different view. They are just like me. They are just trying to do their job by assessing the right amount of tax as required by the laws of our country. I try to cut them some slack and I tend to think that my attitude stems from the fact that my grandfather worked for the IRS for many, many years. He took pride in his job and the work that he did and I admired that. He was very successful in his time despite his lack of a high school or college degree. The IRS was good to him, and he was good to the IRS.
Somehow, I just think things have changed since Grandpap left. I stopped by the IRS office that was downtown (remember, this is all on MONDAY). Unfortunately, they were closed. It appears that the air conditioning went out in their office (and their office only...in a building with 50 or 60 floors) so everyone went home. Minor set-back. The tax payment wasn’t due until Wednesday which means it had to be postmarked by the time the post office closed.
Time for Plan B. I would go to a different IRS office and pick up the form and then send it to the client via courier. That should be plenty of time to fill it out and mail it in. Only problem was that I didn’t have my car because I took the bus (as I always do). No big deal. I would work from home a little on Tuesday, drive to the other location, pick up the form, send it to the client, have her fill it out, and tell her to mail it in. After all, she would have all afternoon on Tuesday and all day Wednesday. Perfect.
So yesterday, everything was going to plan. I got some work done at home and I managed to find the IRS office. They opened at 8:30; I got there around 8:40 and there were a ton of people. Thank goodness I only had to pick up a form! My turn finally came and here’s how the encounter went:
Me: “Is this where I pick up tax forms?”
IRS: “Yes, it is.”
Great! I’m at the right place! This is going to be a piece of cake.
Me: “Ok. I need to pick up Form 8109 please. Actually, I may need to get a couple of them.”
IRS: “8109 isn’t a form. It’s a coupon.”
:: sigh :: Whatever.
Me: “Ok. I need to pick up Coupon 8109 please. Actually, I may need to get a couple of them.”
IRS: “I’m sorry. We don’t hand out those coupons.”
Um...uh oh.
Me: “Uh... So, if someone needs to make a tax payment, how do they go about doing so?”
IRS: “Well, there are a couple ways. They can either pay online or they can pay with the 8109 coupon.”
Hmmm....
Me: “Ok. I need to get an 8109 coupon to make a tax payment.”
IRS: “I’m sorry. I can’t just give you the coupon.”
Gettin’ a little annoyed.
Me: “Ok. Let me explain my situation. I have a client. They have a tax payment due tomorrow. They are not registered to make an online payment. How do they make their payment.”
IRS: “Sir, they can either pay online or with the coupon.”
Me: “They are not registered to make a payment online. How long does it take to register?”
I asked that question knowing the answer.
IRS: “It takes 15 days.”
Me: “Again, they have to make the payment tomorrow. Is the online payment an option?”
IRS: “I guess not if they aren’t registered.”
Finally, we have knocked out one of the options. On to the coupon!
Me: “Ok, so their only viable option is the coupon, correct?”
IRS: “Yes.”
Me: “Can I have the coupon to give to the client?”
IRS: “I’m sorry, but no. The client has to come in and register with an agent and make the payment here.”
What the fruit??? The client has to come in, sit down, register with an agent, get the coupon, fill it out there, and make the payment? This is asinine.
Me: “Ma’am, I feel as though I left out a crucial piece of information. The client has a broken leg. It is her driving leg. She is the only employee in Houston. She cannot get to an IRS office. That is why I am here.”
All true. No lie.
IRS: “Do you have authorization?”
Me: “Yes, the client sent me here to get the form.”
Duh.
IRS: “No, I mean written authorization.”
Me: “Like a power of attorney?”
IRS: “Yes.”
Me: “No.”
IRS: “Then I’m sorry. I can’t give you the form.”
Uncle Sam is making ME work for HIS money!
Me: “Ok. So the client is out of options. She cannot pay online because it takes too long to register. She cannot print the form off the IRS website. And you will not give the form to me to send to her to complete. At this point, none of the options that ‘available’.”
IRS: “Sir, there are two”
Me: :: interrupting :: “Please do not tell me there are two options. I believe we have been over this extensively. Here is what I am going to do. I am going to tell the client to simply write a check. I am going to tell her to include that check with the extension. I am going to tell her to mail both of those things to the processing center. Is that ok?”
IRS: “Most people prefer to use the coupon...”
This conversation was over a long time ago. At this point, I just turned around and left. I mean, really. Doesn’t Uncle Sam want his money? The instructions state that you can obtain a FORM 8109 at a local IRS office. What they don’t tell you is that you will end up wondering whether your career choice was one big mistake. That’s pretty much how I’m feeling right now. One big mistake.
I guess it was just one of those days...
3 comments:
My love, your title should read: "One of Those Days".
Love,
Your Language Arts teaching wifey
(love you!)
only the government could make taking care of something online the less efficient choice. by the way, i overcooked some artichokes the other day and rethought my career choice too. if that makes you feel any better. keep truckin
LOL, it's good to see that all parts of government are equally inefficient.
Don't worry, at least people haven't gone to the great length of designing a website to protest against one of your projects. It's a great feeling, we're suppose to be protecting the safety of the general public, but the public generally hates us.
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