When the IRS Goes Above and Beyond

Sometimes when I call the IRS with questions about a specific tax account, I want them to scour the entire file, read all the notes, research all the issues, and give me all the pertinent details.  Other times I contact the IRS with only one or two very specific questions; I want to get in and get out, and I don’t particularly want them lingering on my client’s account longer than necessary.  The truth is, sometimes (if not most of the time) it is a huge disadvantage trying to deal with the overzealous IRS representative.  They tend to make issues where there are none.  It is as if they don’t have enough work to do so they have to create work for themselves.  Maybe you know what I’m talking about.

Christine O’Donnell knows what I’m talking about.  Back on March 9, 2010 she announced that she was running for the United States Senate.  Later that same day one of these overzealous IRS types named David Smith pulled up O’Donnell’s tax record “just out of curiosity” and leaked her private tax records to reporters.  Or if he didn’t leak it personally, then he put it in the hands of somebody else who did.  And it pretty much ruined her chances of getting elected.  See, the information Smith decided to make public was a Federal Tax Lien (filed when a tax debt goes unpaid).  But it turned out that this information was inaccurate; O’Donnell didn’t owe the IRS.

This story is probably fairly mind-blowing to most people who do not regularly deal with the IRS.  I’m not that surprised by it though, especially the part about the erroneous lien.  The IRS makes mistakes like this all the time.  And as far as I know, David Smith still works at the IRS.