Have you even seen the IRS go back and correct something on their own ?

[fastfredracing]

Long story short. In 2016 , it was the first year my wife and I were officially married, and filing taxes together .
Things were nutty, and busy and our taxes suddenly became very confusing . We filed an extension, then blew the extension off . We filed and paid all our other taxes on time after that
Last year, the IRS came looking for me , so we got our scheiss together, filed, and to our surprise, we were actually owed a nice refund .
Our tax preparer, told us that , since, we owed no real money, there would be no penalties and interest, but that the IRS may not pay out on our refund .
That sucks, but I am so used to having to pay money, and had historically had to pay lots of fines and penalties, that I was just thrilled that they were not coming to padlock my shop and seize the Porsche
We got a letter shortly after filing last year, saying that they received our return but that we were also not eligible for a refund .
Last week, I get a letter from the IRS. I hate these, so I opened it right away, and to my surprise, the letter stated that we were wrongly denied our tax refund from 2016, and that our refund will be processed in the next 4-6 weeks .
I had to read the letter 3 times , and pinch myself. Ever seen this before ?
So, are they reviewing old tax returns looking for mistakes now ?

[Sooner or later]

They double dipped my quarterly payment and took out 12,000 too much.

I picked up on the problem and went to the local IRS office. They noted the discrepancy and assigned me an advocate who kept me informed of goings on. Took about 3 months to get the money back. They did pay a tiny bit of interest.

[KFC911]

I challenged the IRS on their interpretation of 72(t) rules years ago, and they saw it my way when I explained. I was shocked .

Enjoy a "win" Fred ..... you've earned it bud !

[stomachmonkey]

Yes, couple years back they told me I underpaid my estimated taxes by $10.00 and dinged me a penalty over it.

All in was only a coupla few hundred bucks and having had a run in with them decades before and not really enjoying the experience I said f'k it and wrote a check because I was getting off cheap.

About a month later get the same thing but addressed to my wife. We file married / jointly and she was a W2 earner. Same amount as mine with same penalty. Again, it wasn't enough to argue about so I wrote a check.

Fast forward a couple of months and we get a check for all of it back minus $10.00

Again, I didn't argue.

[LWJ]

Nice! Glad some good news for you Fred!!!

[john70t]

Originally Posted by KC911

I challenged the IRS on their interpretation of 72(t) rules years ago, and they saw it my way when I explained. I was shocked !

Did'ja bill them for your "per se" time?

[pwd72s]

Wow! Amen that Fred could use some good news...glad it happened.

[dan79brooklyn]

Lucky for you!

They sent/direct deposited 3 checks and direct deposits for Corona last year.

1 check extra as far as I could tell, same amount twice.

They haven’t asked for it back yet.

[gduke2010]

The IRS penalized me many years ago, and I immediately paid the penalty. Then six months later They sent another letter and I thought oh my God. Opened the letter with a check refunding the penalty.

[cabmandone]

Christmas came early to Fred's house! I'm sure it's welcome news too with all that has gone on recently.

[flatbutt]

I had a similar sitch as Fred and it took years for the IRS to issue a check for their error...absent any interest of course.

[VINMAN]

Yeah, had it happen a couple times. Two mistakes I made on my returns. One was around $700 and the other about $2300. Was nice getting checks from them instead of writing them..

[Superman]

Yes. They corrected an error and sent me additional money.

[matthewb0051]

I've had my personal experiences with IRS that have been painful.

But the worst, just in their dysfunction, was when I was closing my father's estate after his death. After I filed the final return with "Deceased" on the top and had the probate court close the estate, I received a letter from IRS stating that dad had not filed for a CY a few years prior.

I was getting letters from what appeared to be two different departments/sections in IRS. One stating the return still need to be filed and another stating that everything was A OK.

I sent a letter saying the estate was closed with other explanation about timing and the estate having no assets at that point. They finally relented but I had some sleepless nights thinking I was going to be personally liable for that return.

[MBAtarga]

About 3 or 4 years ago, I got a check - less then $100 from what I remember. I had used TurboTax and they claimed there was a calculation error on my return in my favor. I didn't argue..,

[matthewb0051]

I just opened a letter from IRS for 2020 tax year. We paid. But now owe $5.83 in interest.

Seriously. The 5lbs of correspondence and postage cost that much. What a waste.

[gregpark]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

So, are they reviewing old tax returns looking for mistakes now ?

Their computers are and computers never sleep :^(
The IRS doesn't need an army of employees anymore. Instilling fear is the most effective means of compliance and the computers are programmed to scare the daylights out of ya