IRS Form CP81: Why I Hope Trump Can Fix The IRS

IRS Form CP81: Why I Hope Trump Can Fix The IRS

By

Leonard Zwelling

I do not like the Internal Revenue Service. Who does? And I really don’t like letters from the IRS.

Nonetheless, I have been faithfully paying my taxes on time since I first filed a return in about 1972 or so. The year-long gathering of the data and its documentation and the ritual review in about February of the following year precedes the March meeting with my one and only ever CPA in Houston, his doing his magic, him sending the return to us for signatures, and my filing by mail at the post office with a certified package and a return receipt. Same drill, every year.

Over the years we have received letters from the IRS claiming errors in math or the omission of a 1099 form, but nothing major.

Imagine my surprise when I opened a new letter from the IRS, form CP-81. This notified me that I had a huge credit from my 2021 return, but that the IRS had not received the return. I looked in the files and found the return. I saw the amount we owed. I went on line to the Chase Bank web site and confirmed that the IRS had cashed the check on April 4, 2022 for the exact amount due. I then delved further and found the return receipt card. The IRS had signed for the return on March 21, 2022. Clearly the mail room had received it. After that, who knows?

I spent the better part of the day trying to figure out what the one-page letter meant. I called the IRS many times. Each time, they went through a series of personal questions including my parents’ names. Each time I was told that I answered the questions wrong or the system could not identify me and no one could discuss what the CP81 form was for.

That was not what was noteworthy about the experience.

Every single IRS person with whom I spoke was not helpful.

Most were clearly African-American women who “axed” me the questions about my account. I am sorry. That is still bothersome to my ear. Then there was the man who was speaking with a significant, but comprehensible Latino accent who berated me for not knowing what IRS personnel do and not understanding what the letter was for. I also got someone who was from India who I could barely understand. He was very pleasant and passed me off to someone else who never came to the phone.

Believe me, I am very sensitive to the issue of accents. My great aunt who raised my mother had a thick Yiddish accent. That was us once. I get it. But why did I get no help or explanation for the letter or why did the system not recognize me? I still don’t know.

At this point, I suspect I will just ask my CPA. I did. He told me to refile the 2021 return at which point I am quite sure my credit will disappear. I never leave money with the IRS beyond the requisite quarterly payments.

Ronald Reagan used to say the eleven    most feared words in the English language were “I’m from the government and I am here to help you.” I think that’s more true than ever.

By the way, to get to speak to anyone took me 15 to 30 minutes just to get a call back at which point I was still in a queue to speak to a human.

If Mr. Trump and Elon can do anything about the IRS and the efficiency of interacting with the federal government, I will be pleasantly surprised. Good luck, Mr. President-elect.