IRS
Note: Sometimes a story comes along that needs no polishing or
enhancement to make it better. This is one of those. It's a real letter
submitted to the IRS in the midst of 1995's weird and bizarre
denial of dependents, exemptions and credits. The letter speaks for
itself.
Dear Sirs:
I am responding to your letter denying the deduction for two of the three
dependents I claimed on my 1994 tax return.
Thank you.
I have questioned whether or not these are my children for years.
They are evil and expensive. It's only fair that, since they are minors
and no longer my responsibility, the government should know something about
them and what to expect over the next year.
Please do not try to reassign them to me next year and reinstate the deduction.
They are yours!
The oldest, Kristen, is now 17. She is brilliant. Ask her!
I suggest you put her to work in your office where she can answer the
people's questions about their returns.
While she has no formal training, it has
not seemed to hamper her mastery of any subject you can name.
Taxes should be a breeze. Next year she is going to college. I think it's wonderful that
you will now be responsible for that little expense. While you mull that
over, keep in mind that she has a truck.
It doesn't run at the moment, so you have the choice of appropriating some
Department of Defense funds to fix the vehicle, or get up early to drive her to school.
Kristen also has a boyfriend. Oh joy! While she possesses all of the
wisdom of the universe, her alleged mother and I have felt it best
to occasionally remind her of the virtues of abstinence, or in the face of
overwhelming passion, safe sex. This is always uncomfortable, and I am quite
relieved you will be handling this in the future. May I suggest that you
reinstate Dr. Jocelyn Elders who had a rather good handle on the problem.
Patrick is 14. I've had my suspicions about this one. His eyes are
a little close together than those of normal people.
He may be a tax examiner himself one day, if he is not incarcerated first.
In February, I was awakened a three in the morning by a police
officer who was bringing Pat home. He and his friends were TP'ing houses.
In the future, would you like him delivered to the local IRS office, or the
Ogden, UT? Kids at 14 will do almost anything on a dare.
His hair is purple. Permanent dye, temporary dye, what's the big deal?
Learn to deal with it. You'll have plenty of time, as he is sitting out a
few days of school after instigating a food fight in the cafeteria.
I'll take care of filing your phone number with the vice-principal.
Oh yes, he and all of his friends have raging hormones.
This is the house of testosterone and it will be much more peaceful when
he lives in your home.
DO NOT leave him or his friends unsupervised with girls, explosives,
inflammables, inflatables, vehicles, or cellphones.
(They find cellphones a source of unimaginable amusement. Be sure to
lock out the 900 and 976 numbers!)
Heather is an alien.
She slid through a time warp and appeared as if by magic one year.
I'm sure this one is yours. She is 10 going on 21.
She came from a bad trip in the sixties. She wears tie-dyed clothes,
beads, sandals and hair that looks like Tiny Tim's.
Fortunately you will be raising my taxes to help offset the pinch of their
remedial reading courses. "Hooked on Phonics" is expensive, so the
schools dropped it. But here's the good news!
You can buy it yourself for half the amount of the deduction
that you are denying me!
It's quite obvious that we were terrible parents (ask the other two).
She cannot speak English. Most people under twenty understand
the curious patois she fashioned out of valley girls/boys in the
hood/reggae/yuppie/political double speak.
The school sends her to a speech pathologist who has her roll her "R's".
It added a refreshing Mexican/Irish touch to her voice. She wears hats
backwards, baggy pants, and wants one of her ears pierced four more times.
There is a fascination with tattoos that worries me,
but I am sure that you can handle it. Bring a truck when you come to get her,
she sort of "nests" in her room and I think that it would be easier to
move the entire thing than find out what it is really made of.
You denied two of the three exemptions, so it is
only fair that you get to pick which two you will take. I prefer that you
take the youngest two. I will still go bankrupt with Kristen's college, but
then I am free!
If you take the two oldest, then I still have time for
counseling before Heather becomes a teenager.
If you take the two girls, then I won't feel so bad about putting
Patrick in a military academy.
Please let me know of your decision as soon as possible, as I have already
increased the withholding on my W-4 to cover the $395 in additional tax and
made a down payment on an airplane.
Yours truly, Bob
(Note: The IRS allowed the deductions and reinstated his refund).
Note: Sometimes a story comes along that needs no polishing or
enhancement to make it better. This is one of those. It's a real letter
submitted to the IRS in the midst of 1995's weird and bizarre
denial of dependents, exemptions and credits. The letter speaks for
itself.
Dear Sirs:
I am responding to your letter denying the deduction for two of the three
dependents I claimed on my 1994 tax return.
Thank you.
I have questioned whether or not these are my children for years.
They are evil and expensive. It's only fair that, since they are minors
and no longer my responsibility, the government should know something about
them and what to expect over the next year.
Please do not try to reassign them to me next year and reinstate the deduction.
They are yours!
The oldest, Kristen, is now 17. She is brilliant. Ask her!
I suggest you put her to work in your office where she can answer the
people's questions about their returns.
While she has no formal training, it has
not seemed to hamper her mastery of any subject you can name.
Taxes should be a breeze. Next year she is going to college. I think it's wonderful that
you will now be responsible for that little expense. While you mull that
over, keep in mind that she has a truck.
It doesn't run at the moment, so you have the choice of appropriating some
Department of Defense funds to fix the vehicle, or get up early to drive her to school.
Kristen also has a boyfriend. Oh joy! While she possesses all of the
wisdom of the universe, her alleged mother and I have felt it best
to occasionally remind her of the virtues of abstinence, or in the face of
overwhelming passion, safe sex. This is always uncomfortable, and I am quite
relieved you will be handling this in the future. May I suggest that you
reinstate Dr. Jocelyn Elders who had a rather good handle on the problem.
Patrick is 14. I've had my suspicions about this one. His eyes are
a little close together than those of normal people.
He may be a tax examiner himself one day, if he is not incarcerated first.
In February, I was awakened a three in the morning by a police
officer who was bringing Pat home. He and his friends were TP'ing houses.
In the future, would you like him delivered to the local IRS office, or the
Ogden, UT? Kids at 14 will do almost anything on a dare.
His hair is purple. Permanent dye, temporary dye, what's the big deal?
Learn to deal with it. You'll have plenty of time, as he is sitting out a
few days of school after instigating a food fight in the cafeteria.
I'll take care of filing your phone number with the vice-principal.
Oh yes, he and all of his friends have raging hormones.
This is the house of testosterone and it will be much more peaceful when
he lives in your home.
DO NOT leave him or his friends unsupervised with girls, explosives,
inflammables, inflatables, vehicles, or cellphones.
(They find cellphones a source of unimaginable amusement. Be sure to
lock out the 900 and 976 numbers!)
Heather is an alien.
She slid through a time warp and appeared as if by magic one year.
I'm sure this one is yours. She is 10 going on 21.
She came from a bad trip in the sixties. She wears tie-dyed clothes,
beads, sandals and hair that looks like Tiny Tim's.
Fortunately you will be raising my taxes to help offset the pinch of their
remedial reading courses. "Hooked on Phonics" is expensive, so the
schools dropped it. But here's the good news!
You can buy it yourself for half the amount of the deduction
that you are denying me!
It's quite obvious that we were terrible parents (ask the other two).
She cannot speak English. Most people under twenty understand
the curious patois she fashioned out of valley girls/boys in the
hood/reggae/yuppie/political double speak.
The school sends her to a speech pathologist who has her roll her "R's".
It added a refreshing Mexican/Irish touch to her voice. She wears hats
backwards, baggy pants, and wants one of her ears pierced four more times.
There is a fascination with tattoos that worries me,
but I am sure that you can handle it. Bring a truck when you come to get her,
she sort of "nests" in her room and I think that it would be easier to
move the entire thing than find out what it is really made of.
You denied two of the three exemptions, so it is
only fair that you get to pick which two you will take. I prefer that you
take the youngest two. I will still go bankrupt with Kristen's college, but
then I am free!
If you take the two oldest, then I still have time for
counseling before Heather becomes a teenager.
If you take the two girls, then I won't feel so bad about putting
Patrick in a military academy.
Please let me know of your decision as soon as possible, as I have already
increased the withholding on my W-4 to cover the $395 in additional tax and
made a down payment on an airplane.
Yours truly, Bob
(Note: The IRS allowed the deductions and reinstated his refund).