IRS 1-800-829-0115 Wow!

[miatax]

I called IRS to get an explanation for a 2007 - 1120 notice. I was on the phone for 15 minutes.

Finally I get an IRS agent and he is asking me questions about the business. He is asking if I have in front of me the 2008 return. I told him I have the 2007 because we are on a different fiscal year.

He asked me what month we close in and I responded November. He went on to explain why I should have the 2008 return in front of me since it should be from December 2007 - November 2008.

When I explained to him what a fiscal year was and how I had the correct year in front of me, he hung up!

This was a first.. Thought I might share that with all of you... haha... Now I am on the phone with another rep that knows what a correct fiscal year end is.

[PapaJoe]

I hope you got his name and ID number before he hung up so you can report him.

[miatax]

I did get his ID # and I explained what happened to the next agent that helped me out. She was nice and ended up helping me out. She couldn't believe he hung up on me.

[Diane]

I experienced the same problem a couple of years ago. The IRS agent kept insisting that we had not filed a return. I explained that it was a fiscal year ending in June 2006 and that the return was a 2005 return and had been filed. She totally did not understand the concept. I even faxed her the paragraph in the publication for 1120's that explains it all. She was actually looking for the 2006 return. The fact that it was 2006 and the forms weren't even out yet did not deter her from demanding the 2006 return.

Diane

[jainen]

>>He is asking if I have in front of me the 2008 return<<

I'm not sure I agree with you on this. Your phone rep obviously did understood about fiscal years, but for some reason thought you were asking about the tax year ending 11/08, which is probably the most likely to be under review at this time. You seem to include being on hold for 15 minutes as part of the matter, which would certainly frustrate the rep who has no control over that.

Closing near the end of the calendar year is confusing anyway, because some 2008 returns would use 2007 forms. That confusion is evident in Diane's response, for example, in which she refers to a 2006 return filed on 2005 forms as "a 2005 return." Your phone rep was trying to make sure what exactly you were looking at. It was a reasonable question, and when you apparently couldn't make sense of it and gave a non-responsive reply, he gave up.

That's not acceptable customer service, to be sure. But just like good communication, poor communication has two ends.

[miatax]

Jainen:

The reason I called was for a notice that was specifically in reference to 2007 which I clearly specified to the representative. I do understand that communication has 2 ends. I see how this can be confusing to some, but it surprised me that an IRS rep (from the phone number on the notice) wouldn't understand and then proceed to hang up on me. That's all.