Get bent, Tax Man!
OK, so that's probably the best line from that movie, but I may have reason to utter a similar phrase.
I got a letter in the mail two days ago from the IRS. [cue the horror movie music] It ain't tax season, so that's not the kind of mail you want to receive.
The letter stated that the income I'd reported on my 2005 (not 2006) return did not match what they'd been sent on a particular form by some entity. Huh. Who was reporting tax info about me? I vaguely recognized the other entity. I thought it was the company that managed my former company's 401K program. Well, surely there was a mistake. I don't even open the envelopes sent to me about year end tax information. I just collect them all and dump them on my tax preparer. And she never makes a mistake.
Yesterday I called my tax lady and left a message that I needed her help figuring this thing out. Then I dug up a phone number for the reporting entity and called them. They wanted a client number for my former employer. I didn't have that on me so I had to call the lady who took care of such things at my old job. Meanwhile, the guy I spoke to at the reporting entity was as helpful as he could be with virtually no information.
The lady from my old job called back today. She'd never heard of the reporting entity. [cue the really scary horror movie music]
I started racking (or is it wracking?) my brain to remember what was going on with this thing. I finally remembered what it was. Around 1999 or 2000, I got a personal account with the same people who managed our 401K program. Then 9/11 happened. My investment account, which had already been performing poorly, tanked. I lost around 3 or 4K. Finally in 2005, I cut my losses (huh, I seem to do that quite a bit) and cashed out. I added whatever was left in the account to my savings to use as down payment on my townhouse. It all became crystal clear. Now I specifically remember moving into my new house in October 2005. I was pretty scattered. My tax information went to the old address and took a while to get to me. I remember finding an unopened 2005 tax envelope from this same reporting entity *after* I'd sent off my taxes. At the time I thought, "Oops! Oh well. I lost money. So I could have gotten a bigger return, but it's not that important."
Well, it looks like the IRS thinks it is important. I have just contacted the reporting entity to get them to help me establish the "cost basis of the sale." I have to prove that instead of making pure profit (as the IRS seems to think), I actually lost money. If this all works out, I may be getting back some money from the IRS instead of having to pay additional taxes. Would they do that? I hope so.
[and now a word from our sponsors...]
I got a letter in the mail two days ago from the IRS. [cue the horror movie music] It ain't tax season, so that's not the kind of mail you want to receive.
The letter stated that the income I'd reported on my 2005 (not 2006) return did not match what they'd been sent on a particular form by some entity. Huh. Who was reporting tax info about me? I vaguely recognized the other entity. I thought it was the company that managed my former company's 401K program. Well, surely there was a mistake. I don't even open the envelopes sent to me about year end tax information. I just collect them all and dump them on my tax preparer. And she never makes a mistake.
Yesterday I called my tax lady and left a message that I needed her help figuring this thing out. Then I dug up a phone number for the reporting entity and called them. They wanted a client number for my former employer. I didn't have that on me so I had to call the lady who took care of such things at my old job. Meanwhile, the guy I spoke to at the reporting entity was as helpful as he could be with virtually no information.
The lady from my old job called back today. She'd never heard of the reporting entity. [cue the really scary horror movie music]
I started racking (or is it wracking?) my brain to remember what was going on with this thing. I finally remembered what it was. Around 1999 or 2000, I got a personal account with the same people who managed our 401K program. Then 9/11 happened. My investment account, which had already been performing poorly, tanked. I lost around 3 or 4K. Finally in 2005, I cut my losses (huh, I seem to do that quite a bit) and cashed out. I added whatever was left in the account to my savings to use as down payment on my townhouse. It all became crystal clear. Now I specifically remember moving into my new house in October 2005. I was pretty scattered. My tax information went to the old address and took a while to get to me. I remember finding an unopened 2005 tax envelope from this same reporting entity *after* I'd sent off my taxes. At the time I thought, "Oops! Oh well. I lost money. So I could have gotten a bigger return, but it's not that important."
Well, it looks like the IRS thinks it is important. I have just contacted the reporting entity to get them to help me establish the "cost basis of the sale." I have to prove that instead of making pure profit (as the IRS seems to think), I actually lost money. If this all works out, I may be getting back some money from the IRS instead of having to pay additional taxes. Would they do that? I hope so.
[and now a word from our sponsors...]
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