I got two certified “sign here please” letters from the IRS, one concerning the taxes I didn’t pay for , the other for . Other than the difference in the years and figures, they were identical packages:
- A copy of Notice 1219-B: Notice of Potential Third Party Contact which lets me know that the IRS “may contact other persons, such as a neighbor, bank, employer or employees, and will generally need to tell them limited information, such as your name.” It also tells me that I have the right to ask for a list of the people they contacted. Later on in the process, I’ll try to remember to do this.
- A copy of Notice 1212 which encourages me to use the IRS’s automated telephone service.
- A copy of Publication 594: What You Should Know About The IRS Collection Process and of Notice 1367: Updated Information for Publication 594 which lets me know that the fee they charge for entering into a pay-by-installment plan has gone up and the rules for Offers in Compromise have changed.
- A three-page letter listing the balance due, itemizing the latest interest and penalties (though not the cumulative totals of these, which I’ve had to calculate myself by going back to the figures on previous notices), and giving the same “Urgent !!” message as I got .
- A hopeful return envelope.
I refused to pay $769.99 of my self-employment taxes for . Since then, the IRS has added $100.09 in penalties and $84.02 in interest, bringing the total to $954.10.
I refused to pay an additional $4,094 for , which includes a $172 penalty for failure to pay the self-employment tax in quarterly installments. Since then, the IRS has added $78.44 in penalties and $101.60 in interest, bringing the total to $4,274.04.
So, in sum, the IRS is after me for $5,228.14, of which $536.15 is interest & penalties.
For previous installments in the nasty-letters-from-the-IRS series, see:
