IRS trouble

[TheRatPack]

We've dealt with something like this a couple of times. My husband would get a letter stating he didn't report income and it was for some company in Florida. We called the company in question and they said they had his social on file and gave us an address....it wasn't ours. Not really sure how the IRS worked it out, we contacted them and gave them all the information and told them it wasn't us and they took care of it.

 

[Boardwalk Gal]

We had a similiar letter from IRS and we called and they were very nice and it was fixed. Have your son tell them the situation and what they would do is investigate further and hopefully upon the findings it will be resolved.

But if somehow, they still insist that they are right on, then the next best thing is to contact an IRS expert lawyer. It may be a painful process but it will prevent your son's credit and aggravation!!

Best wishes and hopefully it all a simple mistake and will be resolved!!!

Let us know here how it turned out!!

 

[Floridagal23]

This happens more often than you think. I had a client with this problem when I worked at the tax clinic in law school.

It could be a mistake (employer messing up forms, employee putting down wrong ss number) or it could be ID theft (IE, someone uses a random social so they don't have to report their wages for tax purposes).

You should call the IRS and find out exactly what they need to prove that the funds don't belong to him. Maybe proof of employment elsewhere, proof of residency elsewhere, school attendance or enrollment records during that time period, etc.

If that doesn't work, reach out to your local taxpayer advocate (through the IRS) for assistance.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

I just looked up on the IRS website that a 1099-C is for cancellation of debt. Be sure you call the IRS to discuss this. As one pp mentioned, there are a ton of scams out there, and don't use the number on the letter. DH is an accountant and has seen many "official" looking IRS letters which were a fraud. All they did was contact the IRS office and they cleared it up. Don't give any information out (especially Soc Sec #'s) to anyone until you call the IRS.
Good luck!

 

[C.Ann]

Does he have (or had) a savings account anywhere? Was it a straight 1099 - or a 1099-INT (which would be an interest 1099)?

I think you have received good advice here - and hopefully the IRS are"nicer" than in days of old.. Personally I'm scared to death of the IRS - even though I have absolutely no reason to fear them.. Guess I've read too many newspaper articles and watched too many movies - LOL..

Hope it all works out well for your son.. Seems pretty clear that this was not your son - possibly someone just keyed in some wrong numbers or something..

Good luck!

 

[EKW]

I would guess his name and SS# have been sold to an illegal immigrant. I just heard about a huge ring that has been doing this for years. Is he a student? School records should show that he has not been where the records say he's been.

I would try dealing with the IRS directly first. In my experience, they aren't the boogie men they're made out to be. They may be able to help you get this sorted quickly.

Call the SS office, too. Your son may need a new SS number!

 

[tmarquez]

OP here with an update.

Apparently there was a letter prior to the one he brought to me. After he got the first one, he did call the IRS and explain. They had him FAX in a form saying his identity was stolen and he had to include his ID. He did this back in November. He called again in December and they told him it looks like they got his docs, but they were not processed yet. He just dropped it at that point.

We called back last night, he had to talk to them himself. They said they never got his docs back in November and had us FAX them in again. We will call back until they assure us they got them! They told him they didn't need any additional documents and that should take care of it. He will receive a letter saying the matter is closed.

Sounds too easy to me...but I guess we'll see.

If he ends up needing an attorney, I'd think it'd just be cheaper to pay the $ they say he owes.

 

[dis-happy]

Good heavens, don't pay the money just because it's less than an attorney!

I'd keep a log/journal of all your contact with the IRS from this point forward. When they get the FAX make sure you notate whom you spoke with, day, time, etc.

I'd still contact the issuing 1099 company so they get your ds "off the books" so to speak. Whoever is connected with your ds' ssn could still be generating tax statements through them. It could also help clear up whether or not it was an accident or a true identity theft.

 

[Kirby]

Good heavens, don't pay the money just because it's less than an attorney!

I'd keep a log/journal of all your contact with the IRS from this point forward. When they get the FAX make sure you notate whom you spoke with, day, time, etc.

I'd still contact the issuing 1099 company so they get your ds "off the books" so to speak. Whoever is connected with your ds' ssn could still be generating tax statements through them. It could also help clear up whether or not it was an accident or a true identity theft.

Definately document everything. I've had to deal with the IRS before and believe it or not, they do make mistakes.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

If your brother would like you to discuss his tax problems/questions with the IRS you need a Form 2848 *2848s are my job ~ it's what I input Mon-Fri*

And the *instructions*

Let me know if you have any ?s regarding the 2848

 

[seashoreCM]

Start naively and small. (changes made) Start with an explanation without doing research and not enclosing any documents other than the specific items they ask of (if you can get those for free). The explanation would consist of a letter stating that he never visited that outfit, never did work for that outfit, never earned the income, never received the income, etc. You can format the IRS letter the bam bam bam way like
* I never went to that city
* I never applied to that outfit
* I never worked for that outfit
etc.

The IRS should open a case. Their next letter should contain something more that their original computer generated letter and tax bill. If you get merely the same letter from them then you send a copy of your same letter back. Once you get "more information" which means they opened a case manually as opposed to let their computers send out another notice, your step two is to ask the IRS for the name of the source of the "income" supposedly not reported preferably a copy of the actual 1099 form with the name of the recipient/taxpayer.

I would hold off on actually calling the company. YOu can write a simple letter asking for their copy of the 1099. Then another letter stating that DsS did not work for them and they need to send a correction to the IRS. Send the same letter again a little later (don't sit down and compose a new letter) if you don't get a reply. No point spending lots of time and anytime minutes / long distance charges on the phone begging them to do anything because if they balk at correcting the situation, they will string you along.

I say it is safe to not hire a lawyer until after it goes to court and you go there by yourself in person and you lose anyway. And I say you can kibitz DsS all you want or need without being a lawyer yourself.

DsS should feel free to call again to clarify himself or add information or correct himself if he felt he botched up a conversation.

The Social Security Administration sends almost everybody an annual earnings report. If DsS gets a report with extra earnings as well as with missing earnings, then he should send in a dispute letter for that. If DsS does not get a report, to prevent a prolonged period that "his" report goes to some imposter, when you receive your earnings report you should think, "Where's his?" and tell him to inquire of the SSA to find his.

Even though you are dealing with the most powerful collection agency in the world, I think you can get away with missing deadlines while waiting for snail mail in lieu of using express mail and faxes, so long as they know that a dispute is well under way.

 

[katesorad]

I know there have been plenty of great responses already, but I just wanted to chime in and say that I used to work at a McDonald's where many of the employees were illegally living and working in the US. They stole social security numbers and used them to work there. It could be the case. Check that out to make sure!

 

[DisneyMomOK]

Good heavens, don't pay the money just because it's less than an attorney!

I'd keep a log/journal of all your contact with the IRS from this point forward. When they get the FAX make sure you notate whom you spoke with, day, time, etc.

I'd still contact the issuing 1099 company so they get your ds "off the books" so to speak. Whoever is connected with your ds' ssn could still be generating tax statements through them. It could also help clear up whether or not it was an accident or a true identity theft.

Excellent advice. Never pay debt that is not owed; there may be more unpaid taxes that have not made it through the system yet and once you accept responsibility for one incident, it is more difficult to prove innocence on others. I would be very concerned that this is not the end of your DS's misery. You have received some good tips, especially those that address documenting every conversation.

Good luck, but I believe the company involved needs to be told. They would not know that the ID is stolen, if the thief had both name and SSN (not just the SSN, which is "synthetic identity theft.")

 

[Kirby]

I have found in dealing with the IRS to always use Certified Return Receipt/Signature Required. That way you have confirmation that your correspondence was received and on what day. This has saved us a couple times on penalties.