[geeks] Tax Weirdness

[James Sharp]

> Here's the kicker:  The IRS will be giving me a $300 -larger- refund, as a
> result.
>
> I honestly never thought that the IRS would admit to an error in their
> favor.  I'd probably have never caught it.
>
> What bothers me more is that the tax amount they -did- come up with
> doesn't agree with their other figures, but they note something called a
> "Rate Reduction Credit".  The tax amount they come up with would be
> perfectly appropriate for someone with 90% of the taxable income that I
> had.

Something similar happened to a family member....they got back an extra
$800 on top of the original $400 refund.  But then the IRS said "oops, we
didn't fuck up...you fucked up.  We want the $800 back, plus interest,
plus late penalty fees".  That all came up to $1750 or so.

So instead of getting $400 back, he had to pay $1750.  He had already
spent the $800 on something.  And they wanted it back NOW or they were
going to file wage garnishments (i.e., you get $50/paycheck and Uncle Sam
gets the rest until its paid off).