A Letter from the IRS
December 8, 2007 – 1:01 pmWelcome to Working For Financial Freedom. If this is your first visit please read about this blog. You can keep updated by subscribing by email or to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Is really enough to stop someone right in their tracks.
I didn’t grab yesterday’s mail until late last night. We came home from a Christmas party thrown by one of the boss’s at my husband’s work. I got the mail from the mailbox and planned on opening it later. That was until I saw an envelope from the IRS.
Uh. Wait a minute. We had already filed this year’s taxes way back in the spring. What in the world could they want?
I have always filed our taxes myself and have used Turbo Tax Online the last few years. Did I make a mistake? I was scared to open the envelope and find out what they wanted.
Nervously I opened the envelope. Out popped a few pages and a payment envelope. GREAT. Just great. It began to look like my fears were going to be confirmed; we owed them.
Then I started to read.
According to their records it showed one of us served in a combat zone (that would be my hubby).
“To provide you with the special provisions and protection of the combat deferment, your account needs to correctly show the time served….Please provide all entry and exit dates of any years you were in a Combat Zone from 2000 forward.”
Phew. My heart started beating again.
We have to fill out the month and year for the years that my husband served in Iraq and Kuwait. They provided a form and we have to mail it to them by the 27th.
I’m not really sure what this means. Is it just a records update? Or will they figure they owe us money back? (that would be nice!) It just seems kind of strange to ask for this now- he’s been out of the military for almost 3 years now.
I’ll mail the letter back and do a check of the tax returns from those years myself.
If you are a veteran or active duty that’s served in a combat zone have you received one of these forms? Did you find out what it means? It’s Saturday and I’m assuming the IRS is closed today so I’m pretty sure I can’t call the number they provided.
18 Responses to “A Letter from the IRS”
I know that feeling. I underpaid taxes one year and had to pay federal taxes. A few months after I paid, I received the letter from the (bloodsuckers aka I.R.S) but thankfully, it was just information on making estimated tax payments throughout the year so I would not have to pay again the next year.
By SingleGuyMoney on Dec 8, 2007
I haven’t received one of these, but I spent a lot of time in the MidEast when I was in the USAF. I’m interested to hear what happens, and I’ll be be on the lookout to see if I get one of these…
By Patrick on Dec 8, 2007
I am currently on hold with the IRS trying to figure out what this is about too, as we got the same letter today. I don’t think I screwed up our taxes, but I don’t like letters from the IRS!!!
By Brooke on Dec 10, 2007
Brooke,
Can you let me know what you find out?
I need to write down all the deployment dates and mail the letter back; hopefully today. I would love to know what the letter was truly for.
By Momof3 on Dec 10, 2007
Good news, according to the IRS. The gal told me it is simply to update their records, to ensure we receive all the benefits and protections we are entitled to. She said there is no reason to worry, that this is not about our name coming up for an audit or anything. She said fill it out and send it back and don’t think another thing of it. Hopefully she is right.
By Brooke on Dec 10, 2007
Thanks Brooke!
By Momof3 on Dec 10, 2007
I got one of these letters from IRS. My combat service was 1967 to 1969. I’m curious as to the IRS interest in my combat time at this late date.
By Skip on Dec 14, 2007
Skip,
That IS very odd! I hope it’s all for nothing. (maybe someone accidentally deleted some records?)
By Momof3 on Dec 14, 2007
Skip,
When I talked to the IRS, the gentleman told me that the military sends these records each year to the IRS, and the IRS enters them manually, so there is a chance for error each year. He said it is possible we could get a letter each year asking for this same information, or not get another one again for many years.
By Brooke on Dec 16, 2007
I just got the same letter today for myself and my wife.
Funny thing is we aren’t (and haven’t been) in the military. The other odd thing is that the year in question is from 4 years ago. I wonder why often these errors happen and what it costs in time, paper (letter copies, 2 envelopes), and an extra dose of valium.
By Michael on Dec 19, 2007
I also got this letter and I am currently serving. I remember a couple of years ago some knuckle-head took a DOD laptop home that had tons of military personal info in it. Yes it got stolen from his home.
Could this be part of fixing that misstake?
Merry Christmas!
By SSGT on Dec 24, 2007
I just checked my mail today and I have the same letter. I was deployed for 6 months to Iraq in 2003. Hopefully nothing is wrong.
By victor on Dec 27, 2007
I just rec’d a letter two from the IRS.
Merry Christmas to me huh! I too think this is rather suspect since this is noted on our 1099 form. It is marked in a special box if you were in a combat zone. So i guess this is another case of the Government not trusting
the Government? I too file my taxes with Taxslayer and have done so for years without
any problem. However, I am calling the IRS directly tomorrow 1-800-829-1040 just to make sure this letter is legit. I also know about the dfas computers being stolen a while back so I am going to check this out first before giving my info…I suggest you guys do the same. Scammers everywhere you know. The one time I check my mail late, its a letter like this and I have to wait until the next day to deal with it. Great, another sleepless night.
THANKS IRS!
By mcmasehere-Chief on Dec 28, 2007
We received a combat zone inquiry letter on 1/4/08 regarding service in 2004. I called the IRS 800 number listed above. After giving my info, I was transferred to the appropriate department. They said to check “never was in combat zone” and mail it back.
My husband is a disabled Viet Nam era vetern, but they did not know why we would receive a letter since neither of us was in the military in 2004.
By Libra on Jan 7, 2008
I also received this letter, but I’ve never served in a combat zone…
Is this s phishing scam or is it legit? If it’s legit, where is the IRS getting it’s incorrect data?
By 97E on Jan 30, 2008
It is completely legit. I spoke to a number of people at the IRS and they all confirmed the same information. This information is entered manually every year and so mistakes are bound to happen. They are simply confirming the information to ensure if you were in a combat zone you receive the appropriate benefits. It is not a big deal.
By Brooke on Jan 30, 2008
I have already received two of these letters. First we were concerned when we did a reverse search of the phone number and it came up as a residential number. Secondly, the IRS and the military belong to the same government adminstration so I find it hard to get my head wrapped around the idea that the IRS needs this information from us if they arleady have the information that they refer to in the first line of the letter, and they have all of our social security numbers, I don’t see why we need to provide this information to them we get no benefit from the information provided to them.
By NavyGal on Apr 2, 2008
We also received this letter and we’ve never served in a combat zone. I called the IRS and now they are saying that we owe money from 2001 and they are going to charge penalites and taxes from that day forward and therefore we won’t get a stimulus check!! How could this happen? I’ve never checked or said we were in a combat zone, this is the first I’ve heard about this!!! I’m furious, any ideas???
By Tara on May 17, 2008