I wrote previously about the craziness at the IRS. By some miracle, using the IRS2Go app on my “Michael’s Fire” (since I do not have a U.S. mobile phone) I have been able to get my transcripts for 2017 and other years. The IRS shows that I owe no money for any year. However, even though I filed my 2018 return in March, they still haven’t processed that return. At one point, in May, they asked me to prove that I had withheld funds for the IRS in my Vanguard account. I forwarded a copy of the 1099-R. Doesn’t Vanguard send them a copy of the 1099-R? Of course they do!
In trying to contact the IRS, I used my Skype and phoned 800-829-1040. I followed the normal punching for extensions, and then it happened: when I tried to put in my birthdate, starting with “05,” the robot online refused to recognize that. Now, I’m sure that I have used Skype to call the IRS before and have put in my birthdate. But the IRS must’ve done something to their system. Well, the next time I got to speak with an agent, I reported this problem – just as I am reporting it here. Maybe they’ll fix it, although I’m not counting on it.
I did finally get to speak with an IRS agent, thanks to Amy Northard, CPA, who gave an excellent tip at https://amynorthardcpa.com/how-do-i-reach-a-real-person-at-the-irs/. I told the agent that I had been told that I should receive a letter but hadn’t yet. I also told her that I had answered an earlier letter concerning the 1099-R. The agent went away, then came back and confirmed that they had received the 1099-R response from me. Since I had not received the second letter (which was to confirm my identity!), she agreed to send out a second letter.
After that discussion, I discovered that there is an IRS line at 800-830-5084 which handles identity confirmation. Of course, you’re not supposed to call them unless you have a letter from the IRS, asking that you call that number. But I called it anyway. The agent there confirmed that I had been sent a letter, requesting that I call them, on July 25, and a second letter this same morning. I said that I had been identified before (that’s why I was permitted to change my address on the IRS website), so I asked if I could provide whatever information they required. Why did they need more identification since they had given me an IRS account, anyway?
But the agent said she was sorry; she couldn’t go forward with the identity confirmation unless I had the IRS letter in hand! So now I have to wait some more. Maybe the first missing letter will show up, and if not, maybe the second one will.
Incidentally, one of the agents informed me that my timely filed 2018 return (filed in March 2019), was not “received” by their processing department until July 2019, so I couldn’t hear from them about that return until October 2019.
Is this crazy, or what?
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