Tax question – complicated…?
Ok, this is a very complicated situation so bear with me. A couple weeks ago I got a form from the IRS saying that I didn’t file one of my W2 forms in 2008. I first talked to the people that do my taxes (H and R block) and they said they couldn’t find an error on their part so I needed to talk to the employers and see if maybe they gave me the wrong W2. When I went to talk to them they said they made an error in their computer system and put me in their computer as two different people because I got married that year so they had me in there under my maiden name and my married name. So that year they only sent me one W2 form, and they were supposed to send me two. I didn’t know this so I filed my taxes as usual and just found out a couple weeks ago I have penalties to pay because of it. I spoke to someone at the IRS and they said I need to get documentation from the employers saying that they made an error and it was not my fault and then I’ll be able to send that in to contest the penalties and fees. I guess what I’m asking is do I need to type up a statement and try to get them to sign it? Or is there a specific form I can find online or something? I’ve never been in a situation like this before so I’m kind of lost…
Tax lady – No they didn’t issue me 2 w2s, they only issued me one and they never sent me the other one. And also, why didn’t I notice that my income was lower than it should have been? Because there was only a very small amount on the one that wasn’t sent to me so I would have known the exact amount I made that year to see the difference which since its substitute teaching it would have been hard to keep track of that.
Tags: Complicated, Question
Comments (2)
So your employer issued you 2 W-2s and you only reported one. Somehow you failed to notice that your total income on the one W-2 was too low and didn’t question it. Somehow your employer failed to notice they had two employees with the same SSN, same first name and that they didn’t mail you the other W-2.
As for the tax, you owe it. As for interest, you owe it. As for penalties, you owe those too, but you can simply ask if the penalties can be waived. This freebie is only once every few years so if you have had penalties waived recently, you will need to ask in writing with a good explanation. if you got married in, say, June, you will be hardpressed to explain why you didn’t notice your income was so low.
It is likely that you got a form letter numbered CP-2000 which is about 12 pages long. On page 3 there should be a part of the letter that allows you to agree or disagree. Mark the part that you disagree in part. Write out a statement similar to what you have given us explaining what happened and asking them to remove the interest and penalty. Send along the full amount of the tax. This will increase the likelihood that they will forget about the interest and penalty as it will cost them too much to collect it. This works sometime but it will not work unless you send in at least the tax due.