ndrosen

No good deed goes unpunished.

I scrupulously filled out a form and paid gift tax on the money I gave my sister in 2024 to help pay for my niece’s tuition; I enclosed a check, which showed up the next month (May) as debited from my account. Yesterday, a letter arrived from the IRS, saying that I owed the money, and have to pay it, with a few more dollars in interest and penalty.

A telephone number is given, so I plan to call today, and see if the matter can be straightened out.

A few months ago, the IRS looked into my 2017 charitable deductions (not actually a full tax audit). Recently, I received a questionnaire from a firm working with the IRS; they wanted me to report on my interactions with the IRS, and how I was treated, so I filled out the questionnaire and mailed it in.

The questions were basically reasonable, even if I did not fully recollect the answers, but they were directed at small businessmen and the self-employed who had been audited. I used the space where the form asked for my recommendations to write that my examination had not been a full audit, and that I was a salaried employee, not self-employed or a small businessman.

There is a sort of humor in the IRS having a polling firm ask people how they liked their audits.

Good news: On Friday, I received a call from the Revenue Agent, telling me that my 2017 tax return was basically OK; there were minor discrepancies, but less than $300, so they weren’t demanding more money from me. This was good news; incidentally, I recall reading of cases of the IRS demanding substantial amounts of money from people or seizing their property because of alleged tiny errors, but perhaps these are rare abuses, or perhaps the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights has done some real good.

On Tuesday, I got a letter from the IRS requiring me to provide further documentation of two donations in 2017, and by Monday September ninth, so I emailed the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Economics, who emailed me back, and then sent me requisite acknowledgments as PDFs earlier today; I printed them, and put them in the mail, so the Revenue Agent should have them on schedule.

I reported to the IRS this morning, and they’re not sending me to Alcatraz. There may be further questions about my 2017 charitable donations, and perhaps some adjustment of the tax return, but no serious trouble. I was, I am happy to report, treated with friendliness and courtesy throughout, both by the experienced agent, and the trainee who is practicing his skills on me.

This is, despite the term I use as a tag, a tax Examination, not a full audit.

I still favor switching to land value taxation, so that this kind of thing would not be necessary, among other reasons.

I had referred to a tax audit; I’ve spoken with someone from the IRS, and it’s only an examination; they aren’t doing a full audit, but they want me to document my 2017 charitable contributions. I have an appointment in late August, and according to what I was told, I’m going to be on-the-job training for a new IRS employee, who will be working under supervision.

I’m home, and when I got back, I found to my inexpressible delight that I am required to call a tax examiner at the IRS, and make arrangements to see her.

I now have an additional and personal reason to support LVT. With land value taxation, an assessor might have to be allowed into your land to properly assess it, but audits into your charitable contributions and other deductions would not be necessary.

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