Discussion:Revenue Officer tells neighbor "Your neighbor Owes Federal Taxes from 2000 Forward"
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Revision as of 14:04, 31 July 2007 Ashland (Talk | contribs) (I don't have a h) Next diff → |
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| {{ForumReplyPost|UserID=Death&Taxes|Date=31 July 2007|Text=How stupid can you get? With the claim of the letter opening, the incident has shifted from one person's word against another's to two account's of the letter opening versus the RO's 'guess.' }} | {{ForumReplyPost|UserID=Death&Taxes|Date=31 July 2007|Text=How stupid can you get? With the claim of the letter opening, the incident has shifted from one person's word against another's to two account's of the letter opening versus the RO's 'guess.' }} | ||
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| + | {{ForumReplyPost|UserID=Ashland|Date=31 July 2007|Text=I don't have a horror story quite as bad as the above, but this did irk me recently. Client/taxpayer from OH was in Florida for the winter and received audit notice. Getting POA signed took a few days, due to client not being at a location where faxing was convenient and emailing was impossible. Meantime I notified RO that we were working on the POA and explained the circumstances. Whereupon the RO called the client in FL and scheduled the audit for two days after the TP planned to return from winter vacation. When we got the POA in place, I told the RO we could meet at the TP's business on the date appointed for a tour, but no documentation would be available for examination on that date due to the TP not having had time to assemble it. Things have gone better since then, but it still bugged me that the RO, when he got wind of a POA in progress, quickly contacted the TP personally and gave him to understand that the TP was required to set the appointment with the RO since the POA was not yet in hand. | ||
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| + | Doesn't IRS material say the POA should be presented at the first appointment?}} | ||
Revision as of 14:04, 31 July 2007
Discussion Forum Index --> Tax Questions --> Revenue Officer tells neighbor "Your neighbor Owes Federal Taxes from 2000 Forward"
| 28 July 2007 | |
| Now this is gonna be fun. One of my clients called today to tell me that a Revenue Officer was snooping around her home. No problem, right...wrong. She's on vacation and she's not even there. So, how did she know about it? Her neighbor called and said that the Revenue Officer was asking questions then proceeded to tell him that she owed taxes from 2000 forward.
Frankly, I was more than shocked. I was apoplectic. After I calmed down, I spoke with the neighbor who confirmed everything. He is signing a statement under penalty of perjury and that signed statement is going to the Treasury Inspector General on Monday. In addition, the RO bypassed my POA. I fully expect this Revenue Officer to be looking for new work and could be looking at criminal charges as well. | |
Donniecastleman (talk|edits) said: | 28 July 2007 |
| Take 'em down! The Revenue Agents I've run across are either incompetent or trying to get up the IRS corporate ladder any way they can. I'd go to every possible media outlet with names in hand to put a permanent black eye on the Revenue Agent's public AND private life. Sheesh talk about harassment! | |
| 28 July 2007 | |
| Did the Revenue Officer show any type of ID. If not, it could have been anybody. | |
| 28 July 2007 | |
| Oh, my. Clearly an unlawful disclosure on the part of the R/O here. An otherwise permissible "investigative disclosure" under 6103 don't no way stretch that far. | |
| 29 July 2007 | |
| Aren't the filing of the tax liens public record? In other words, the info that someone owes tax is already public information. | |
WIBadgerCPA (talk|edits) said: | 30 July 2007 |
| Kevin - Where can I find that information. Once in a while I'll have a client call up saying they have a tax lien out there, but don't know what for. | |
| 30 July 2007 | |
| no, that is incorrect. The lien exists at the time the tax is owed, it just isn't public knowledge until it is filed, and it attaches to everything, not just real property. The whole purpose of filing is to make it public knowledge. The reason it is filed in a county in which the taxpayer lives or in which he owns real property is so that it will appear in the likely place where someone will look who is concerned with purchasing property from the individual. | |
Death&Taxes (talk|edits) said: | 30 July 2007 |
| Steve does not mention anything about a lien, and for all we know, Steve's client may not have filed for those years. | |
Actionbsns (talk|edits) said: | 30 July 2007 |
| I don't think the issue revolves around a lien, more around the inappropriateness of the RO expounding to the neighbor on back taxes owed by Steve's client as well as not respecting the POA he has in place. | |
Death&Taxes (talk|edits) said: | 30 July 2007 |
| That is what I trying to say: Steve did not say whether there was any 'excuse' or not because it does not matter. Revenue Officers like this would have the debtors sitting in stocks in the town square, wearing shirts with 'Tax Debtor' on them, if they had their way. | |
| 30 July 2007 | |
| No one, I was only making a point that a lien is public record of tax owed. Not that this gives the RO permission to talk about a taxpayer, but that if a lien was filed a nosy neighbor could have already known. | |
Donniecastleman (talk|edits) said: | 30 July 2007 |
| Bottom line, the RO is a worthless sack of monkey crap that should be more professional about his job rather than sinking to the level of a $9 an hour debt collector. If I was in the TP's shoes, I'd file every complaint known to man and request a new RO. | |
| 30 July 2007 | |
| aren't you better off with an RO who doesn't know the rules (and therefore messes up on everything, making the whole process appealabe) rather than an RO who knows what to do? | |
| 30 July 2007 | |
| At the time this happened I worked as a civilian contract health care provider (nurse practitioner)at a military clinic on a military base. RO #1 (Mary Jones) called the company home office and told the secretary she was "an old friend of mine" and was in town for a few days and wanted to get in touch with me. She requested the location and phone number of the clinic where I worked on the military base. Secretary declined and said she would get a message to me with her name and number. I did not recognize the name Mary Jones but went ahead and called the number which connected me to the voice mail of RO #2 (Betty Smith) who's name I did recognize from previous contacts--including one where she came to my home and gave my spouse copies of IRS summons for both of us). I hung up and almost immediately my phone rang (caller ID?) and a woman identifying herself as Mary Jones asked "Is this Linda Roberts?" and I said yes. She said "I am with Betty Smith and we need to give you some papers so we want to know where to find you on (the military base)." I told her that I could not conduct my personal business at work and I did not appreciate her lying to the company I worked for and that I would meet them at my house after work to get the papers they wanted to give me. She said "Oh we could just leave them at your house but we don't want to do that. If you do not tell us where you are WE WILL COME ON THE BASE AND FIND YOU. I again stated that I could not conduct my personal business at work and hung up the phone. About an hour later, the receptionist knocked on the door of one of my exam rooms where I was treating a patient. She said "there are 2 ladies out at the desk with badges from the IRS and they are demanding to see you right now to give you some papers." I told the receptionist to tell the RO's that I was with a patient but tell them I said to give you the papers and you will make sure I receive them. About 10 minutes later, the Officer In Charge of the clinic came to my office with the card from the RO and said "these two women are refusing to leave until they see you. I told them they could not just come in here like that but they are demanding that we tell them where you are." I explained to him that this was personal business and that I had already spoken with them and already offered to meet them at my home after work. He apparently relayed this information to them and they finally left. An hour later I received a phone call from the home office stating the RO's had told the military base contracting office that they would be returning to the clinic with FEDERAL MARSHALLS TO ARREST ME and that the military did not want there to be a 'scene' when this occurred. Meanwhile, my spouse 200 miles away phoned the RO and made an appointment to come to her office in 3 days time to pick up the "papers" which turned out to be another IRS summons.
This whole drama was for no other reason than to make my private situation with the IRS public, harrass and threaten me, and damage my reputation in my workplace. We now have an attorney and and OIC has been "pending" for almost a year. I did make complete documentation of this episode and submit it to TIGTA but as far as I know nothing happened to these 2 fat cows (they showed up in tent dresses and birkenstocks) and they are continuing to terrorize others. I can not believe anyone would have such low self esteem that they would work this job. | |
| 30 July 2007 | |
| B Evans, remember the big bullys from 4th grade? They grew up and got jobs at the IRS. | |
Bottom Line (talk|edits) said: | 30 July 2007 |
| I'd be asking the guard at the gate how they managed to get on the base. | |
| 30 July 2007 | |
| This is a local case. The Revenue Officer is located in the San Francisco area. I'm not going to get any more specific than that. The neighbor signed a statement under Penalty of Perjury that the RO made the disclosure to him.
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| 31 July 2007 | |
| I know at times we have received something about "Notification of Potential Third Party Contact" and I could swear it mentions something about contacting your "friends, neighbors and family members" and I guess I always assumed they could do this. To my knowledge, no one we know has been contacted by them. I do know a doctor that owned his practice and got in trouble with them for not depositing the withholdings from the employees and they did show up at his office demanding money or they were going to shut his office down right then. He paid up on the spot.
In your case, can not believe that the RO actually accused the neighbor of snooping in the "targets" papers on the door. But, really, where else can these people work especially for the money and benefits they receive? I would be a prostitute (legally of course) before I would work for them. | |
| 31 July 2007 | |
| Oh, as an aside, I did not use the "real names" of the RO's involved. I think these two were more the fat girls who read alot and are still virgins at menopause. The base I worked on is "open" and anyone with proper ID can go on base after stating their business and having their vehicle inspected by the soldiers at the gate. | |
Death&Taxes (talk|edits) said: | 31 July 2007 |
| How stupid can you get? With the claim of the letter opening, the incident has shifted from one person's word against another's to two account's of the letter opening versus the RO's 'guess.' | |
| 31 July 2007 | |
| I don't have a horror story quite as bad as the above, but this did irk me recently. Client/taxpayer from OH was in Florida for the winter and received audit notice. Getting POA signed took a few days, due to client not being at a location where faxing was convenient and emailing was impossible. Meantime I notified RO that we were working on the POA and explained the circumstances. Whereupon the RO called the client in FL and scheduled the audit for two days after the TP planned to return from winter vacation. When we got the POA in place, I told the RO we could meet at the TP's business on the date appointed for a tour, but no documentation would be available for examination on that date due to the TP not having had time to assemble it. Things have gone better since then, but it still bugged me that the RO, when he got wind of a POA in progress, quickly contacted the TP personally and gave him to understand that the TP was required to set the appointment with the RO since the POA was not yet in hand.
Doesn't IRS material say the POA should be presented at the first appointment? | |
