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[The Artisan]

This year when I did my taxes, for some reason it turned out that I owed the government. The amount of $611 to the federal, and $153 to the state. I don't fucking understand that but it is what it is.

I did my taxes with H&R block, and I called them and asked an agent how to make the payment. He said to do it on irs.gov

I've never had to do this before so I go to irs.gov and make a lump sum payment of $764 on the website. Rookie fucking mistake that's costing me way way WAY more stress than I deserve.

Soon after that, I look at my bank account and see that the amount of $764 is gone. Makes sense. But in that same time frame, I look again and see that the individual amounts of $611 and and $153 are also taken out of my account! Which means they took $1,528 from me!

I didn't understand that so I call my bank and explain to them the situation. She says she'll be able to reverse the initial lump sum of $764 that I paid to the IRS, and she's good on her word. I get that amount back, and the government took the amounts of $611 and $153 from me, so the IRS and I should be square.

A few days later, I get a letter from the IRS saying "we were unable to process your payment of $764, reprocess immediately"...

First of all, this means that when my bank intervened, there was no person talking to another person, just internal systems interacting which obviously resulted in a miscommunication.

Second of all...notwithstanding the fact that the IRS already took the necessary amounts of money from me individually, shouldn't the system already know that the $764 payment was NOT something I owed them anyway?! So why is the system trying to reconfigure that? Do they think that I'm fucking donating to them or something?!?!

Third...and this was my thought at the time...why the fuck do they want me to pay them twice?! At that point I needed to get into contact with the IRS but they make themselves so fucking difficult to contact. Eventually and I don't even remember how, I was able to get into contact with someone there and basically just paraphrasing here, he said the system was just slow; and because of its slowness I'm supposed to be receiving a check for $764 that I need to give back to them immediately.

Sure enough when I receive the check, I make an appointment at my local IRS office, bring my ass over there, explained literally everything I just typed out, and hand him the check.

Several weeks later, I receive a letter from the IRS saying "we have received the tax refund check of $764. It will take approximately 60 days from the date of this letter to process your returned refund check and make the adjustment(s) you requested." By that point I'm thinking, okay cool. It's all done and over with.

Till now. I get a letter in the mail TODAY, "we reviewed your account and found that we misapplied payment(s) totaling $764. We have readjusted your account to correct this error, and as a result you have a balance due of $764+ interest charges 3.52= $767.52

WHAT THE FUCK

I got a letter telling me they got the check, and they want me to make the payment AGAIN?! on top of that, with ADDED INTEREST?! So what, in the 60 days it's taking for them to process this sorry ass mistake they decide to try fuck me even more?!

The worst part of this all is how impossible it is to get a hold of the IRS contact them and get them to understand. My God...And it's the weekend now so I can't even do anything about this until Monday, the busiest day of the week...ugh

For those who end up reading my whole rant (I don't blame you if you don't) I'm sorry I couldn't think of a way to make a tl;dr

 

[Linkura]

All I can say is that you don't pay the federal government your state taxes. You pay them to your state's department of revenue. You wouldn't pay that on the IRS site.

 

[harriet the spy]

This misapplied payment letter happened to me as well!
I have no idea what it means and still trying to figure it out

 

[Felix Lighter]

I'm surprised H&R Block didn't take care of the payments to the IRS and your State.

 

[Linkura]

I'm surprised H&R Block didn't take care of the payments to the IRS and your State.

This, wtf.

 

[mr2xxx]

That sounds terrible.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Why did you use hr block if they won't even do the payment/refund for you? That's literally the only point of going there

 

[Pagusas]

First mistake I saw in your long write up was contacting your bank first instead of the IRS when the first payment got doubled. You never go to the bank first for pulling back something like that, you talk to the government first.


Your bank doesn't give a damn about the situation or its dynamics, they won't communicate for you, that's not their job.


Even before that though why are you paying through the IRS website if you went to a tax preparer? Just have them do it.

 

[mashoutposse]

All I can say is that you don't pay the federal government your state taxes. You pay them to your state's department of revenue. You wouldn't pay that on the IRS site.

Right - why are you paying your state tax to the IRS?

First mistake I saw in your long write up was contacting your bank first instead of the IRS when the first payment got doubled. You never go to the bank first for pulling back something like that, you talk to the government first.


Your bank doesn't give a damn about the situation or its dynamics, they won't communicate for you, that's not their job.

Also right.

 

[ColdPizza]

Thank god I'm married to a CPA. Her firm submits all this shit for me.

 

[dallow_bg]

If it t were me I would have called the IRS first.
But yeah there's a lot of weirdness here.

 

[CarlisleDavid1979]

Title is something the Iron Shiek would say.

 

[Futureman]

Why were you surprised that you owed money? Is this your first time doing taxes or did your job change in the is year? I'm the opposite of a tax expert but generally if you are self-employed you'll owe at the end of the year and if you work for a company and on salary you'll get a refund.

 

[tbm24]

You should go to back to whoever filed for you in the first place and have them fix it. You shouldn't have made the payments yourself.

 

[Gravy Boat]

Threads like this make me glad I live in the U.K. I've never once though about taxes because they just come out of my monthly wage before it even hits my bank account.

I hope no one informs me that aim wrong and that I actually owe a decade+ worth of taxes.

 

[Skellig Gra]

Send them a notarized letter showing proof of payment and your problems will go away

Threads like this make me glad I live in the U.K. I've never once though about taxes because they just come out of my monthly wage before it even hits my bank account.

I hope no one informs me that aim wrong and that I actually owe a decade+ worth of taxes.

There are many cases where you'd have to file a tax return.
https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/who-must-send-a-tax-return

 

[99Luffy]

Why were you surprised that you owed money? Is this your first time doing taxes or did your job change in the is year? I'm the opposite of a tax expert but generally if you are self-employed you'll owe at the end of the year and if you work for a company and on salary you'll get a refund.

Dont think you read the op..

 

[Transistor]

First, you fucked up by going to H&R block. Just get TurboTax and doing it yourself.

Second, you paid your state taxes to the federal government.

Neither of these are the IRS's fault

Send them a notarized letter showing proof of payment and your problems will go away

This is all you need to do

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

How did you file your taxes, exactly? You said you went through HR Block. Do you mean you filed online using them, or went in and had a human do it for you?

 

[YesThatGuy]

The US has some of the most ass backwards systems. From healthcare to education. The IRS is just one more. Hell, in Mexico, you do all the process directly in the IRS equivalent, event setting up payments! The only reason to go and do something else is if you have any special conditions.

To be honest, I'm amuse you don't have to do the whole thing in paper and pen.

 

[Sanjuro]

I'm surprised H&R Block didn't take care of the payments to the IRS and your State.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Threads like this make me glad I live in the U.K. I've never once though about taxes because they just come out of my monthly wage before it even hits my bank account.

I hope no one informs me that aim wrong and that I actually owe a decade+ worth of taxes.

They take taxes out of our wages too. But that's only some earnings. People make and contribute money outside their employment which is required to be reported to the government so that they can either pay you money you deserve back, or have you pay money you owe.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

The US has some of the most ass backwards systems. From healthcare to education. The IRS is just one more. Hell, in Mexico, you do all the process directly in the IRS equivalent, event setting up payments! The only reason to go and do something else is if you have any special conditions.

To be honest, I'm amuse you don't have to do the whole thing in paper and pen.

For the average person taxes are extremely simple.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Dont think you read the op..

I think he did. It is kind of odd that OP was surprised he owed taxes. It means his W-4 is fucked and he isn't getting enough taxes taken out if each pay check. That is something that needs corrected if OP doesn't want to owe again this year.

 

[Averon]

Whenever I do my taxes, I use services like TaxAct. Once I finish filing, it allows me to pay the feds and the state separately.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

I think he did. It is kind of odd that OP was surprised he owed taxes. It means his W-4 is fucked and he isn't getting enough taxes taken out if each pay check. That is something that needs corrected if OP doesn't want to owe again this year.

Don't know why anyone ever sets it to more than 1, at most.

 

[Transistor]

Don't know why anyone ever sets it to more than 1, at most.

"Yay! I get more money each paycheck!"

Six months later

"WTF? I owe money????"

I keep mine set at 0

 

[Skellig Gra]

I think he did. It is kind of odd that OP was surprised he owed taxes. It means his W-4 is fucked and he isn't getting enough taxes taken out if each pay check. That is something that needs corrected if OP doesn't want to owe again this year.

It should be at 0. You'll always pay less if you pay at the end of the year. You are giving the government a free loan for most of the year if you deduct too much.

 

[Dark Ninja]

I think he did. It is kind of odd that OP was surprised he owed taxes. It means his W-4 is fucked and he isn't getting enough taxes taken out if each pay check. That is something that needs corrected if OP doesn't want to owe again this year.

Sounds like OP doesn't have healthcare and that's the Obamacare fine(Due to the amount). Either way OP your tax people should have given you proper directions you pay the State separately.

 

[poppabk]

How did the bank reverse the charge? I once had a car payment come out twice in one month and literally the only way to have it reversed was by filing a fraud claim and it was a complete pain in the ass.

 

[PeskyToaster]

Threads like this make me glad I live in the U.K. I've never once though about taxes because they just come out of my monthly wage before it even hits my bank account.

I hope no one informs me that aim wrong and that I actually owe a decade+ worth of taxes.

Wouldn't you have to tell them about all your income for a proper income tax? They are just taking your wages but you may also have interest, stocks, etc. Also in the US, they withhold money throughout the year and then when you file you figure out what you owe. You then get a refund if your withholding was over the necessary amount or you pay if it was less. This means that Americans can adjust their withholding if they need the money throughout the year depending on the circumstances. Or they want to use it for something.

No idea how it works in the U.K.

 

[jackdoe]

"Yay! I get more money each paycheck!"

Six months later

"WTF? I owe money????"

I keep mine set at 0

Then you're giving the government an interest free loan.

 

[SyNapSe]

I think he did. It is kind of odd that OP was surprised he owed taxes. It means his W-4 is fucked and he isn't getting enough taxes taken out if each pay check. That is something that needs corrected if OP doesn't want to owe again this year.

Or he sold stocks and owed gains?

 

[Transistor]

Then you're giving the government an interest free loan.

I'm going to owe taxes anyways, so might as well do it incrementally so I don't owe a lot at the end of the year.

 

[poppedcollar69]

eh. its somebody's fault but it's not the irs's fault.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Or he sold stocks and owed gains?

Then it'd be even stranger that he was surprised.

 

[SwipeLeftHoney]

File your own taxes. It's so easy, why pay HR Block to do something anyone with half a brain can do?

 

[GoldenEye 007]

It should be at 0. You'll always pay less if you pay at the end of the year. You are giving the government a free loan for most of the year if you deduct too much.

Isn't 0 them taking out more per paycheck? An individual would want it at 1 or 2 to prevent giving too much to the state/feds per paycheck I would think.

 

[poppedcollar69]

Isn't 0 them taking out more per paycheck? An individual would want it at 1 or 2 to prevent giving too much to the state/feds per paycheck I would think.

he meant the opposite... set it at 100 and then flee the country in march

 

[Netherscourge]

This is why I only claim myself on my taxes.

I love getting a fat refund check every April and I never owe anything.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Then you're giving the government an interest free loan.

And you get roads, services, protection, the results of government r&d, a protected environment, etc. Letting the government use a couple hundred bucks, which they give back, is fair.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Isn't 0 them taking out more per paycheck? An individual would want it at 1 or 2 to prevent giving too much to the state/feds per paycheck I would think.

Yeah. We had to adjust our a couple of years back. We got like a $5,000 "refund". Fuck that. That's real cash that belongs in my pocket every month.

And you get roads, services, protection, the results of government r&d, a protected environment, etc. Letting the government use a couple hundred bucks, which they give back, is fair.

Nonsense. Taxes pay for that shit. There is no reason to overpay, and certainly no moral high ground to claim.

You overpay, they'll give it back, interest free. You underpay by $1,000 or more, you damn well will pay them interest.

 

[LumpOfCole]

I did my taxes with H&R block, and I called them and asked an agent how to make the payment. He said to do it on irs.gov

Wait what? You pay through H&R Block and then H&R Block does this for you. That's.. that's the whole point. They exist because of situations like this thread.

Also if you're owing the government about ~$1,000 in taxes, you should review your federal and state withholding exemptions through your employer so that you have just a bit more taken each paycheck (fewer exemptions and/or filing as Single instead of Married) so that you don't get hit in the face with owing the government money every year.

 

[Wereroku]

Then you're giving the government an interest free loan.

I would rather give them a free loan then any chance of a penalty. If you have them withhold more then get hit with an emergency you are basically guaranteed to be able to cover your taxes and get some money back.

Though thinking about it I could probably claim 3 and be fine since I get a huge bonus for having two kids and one income source. My twins were born the last week of December and I got back around $10k from the feds and another $1k from the state.

Well if you have 2 children and a spouse you would claim 4 deductions anyway. If you want to be safe claiming 2 or 3 is also good.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Though thinking about it I could probably claim 3 and be fine since I get a huge bonus for having two kids and one income source. My twins were born the last week of December and I got back around $10k from the feds and another $1k from the state.

 

[Chumly]

This is 100% HR blocks fault. Why the fuck would they tell you to pay on the IRS website? When you filed your taxes they set you up for auto debit which is why your account got hit twice. Also you never ever pay your state taxes to the federal government. Honestly I can't believe you actually paid someone to do your taxes to get such fucking incompetent service

 

[poppabk]

This is 100% HR blocks fault. Why the fuck would they tell you to pay on the IRS website? When you filed your taxes they set you up for auto debit which is why your account got hit twice. Also you never ever pay your state taxes to the federal government. Honestly I can't believe you actually paid someone to do your taxes to get such fucking incompetent service

I've got a feeling that HR block set up the payment and then the OP paid the taxes again himself. Only way I can see this makes sense.

 

[sir_kevith]

If H&R Block fucked up this bad you should ask them for a refund.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

I've got a feeling that HR block set up the payment and then the OP paid the taxes again himself. Only way I can see this makes sense.

Yeah, thinking so as well. But, HR Block support fucked up by telling him to pay IRS.gov. That was really stupid that they wouldn't look and see that he had already paid when he filed.

 

[Chumly]

I've got a feeling that HR block set up the payment and then the OP paid the taxes again himself. Only way I can see this makes sense.

That's exactly what they did. You know for a fact that they did it because he had two CORRECT payments that happened. One to the state and one to the federal government. Then he did a combined payment straight to the IRS. It boggles my mind that HR block would have told him to do that.