David Woods <dwoods[at]woods-financial.com> wrote:

- quote -

Her original message makes no mention of the child tax credit.

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"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk[at]chinet.chinet.com> wrote:
- quote -

Nope. She originally stated that she knew she WASN'T
eligible for the child tax credit. When a person goes to
that length to find out the law and determines they can't
take advantage of it, THEN the IRS processes the return and
says she really is, MY first instinct would be to make sure
I was right or wrong in the first place and go accordingly
and most certainly wait until the promised documentation was
mailed to me. Of course I'm not a layperson, but an
educated person as she seemed to be should or could come to
the conclusion that the IRS didn't know the reasons why she
was ineligible for the credit. If she had a professional
preparing the return, I'm sure she would have gotten the
advice to not spend the refund that was deposited into her
account. Heck, that's good advice ANY time you're not sure
about the money.

--
David M. Woods, EA, ChFC, CLU
Woods Financial Services
Norwood, MA 02062
www.woods-financial.com

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Dave Woods <davidwoods[at]verizon.net> wrote:
- quote -

Gosh, I thought I was clear. Dan made two contradictory
assumptions.

- quote -

The IRS told her she'd made an error on her return. You're
making another one of them thar assumptions.

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Elizabeth wrote:

- quote -

That is not a "math error adjustment" anymore. The IRS
either has to follow the deficiency procedure or the
erroneous refund procedure. Either way, since they first
gave you something that you didn't claim, they will have the
burden of proof to show that the prior action was incorrect.

For the deficiency procedure, they must eventually issue a
"90 day letter" which comes certified mail. For the
erroneous refund procedure, they will file in a federal
court.

Either way, should the IRS prevail, they will get the refund
back WITH INTEREST since the day it was issued to you.

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"Seth Breidbart" <sethb[at]panix.com> wrote:
- quote -

And they were ALSO told that documentation would be
forthcoming. A prudent person would WAIT for that
documentation.

- quote -

The law is not on their side. Even though apparently it was
the IRS's mistake, the law is quite clear about repayment
with interest on an erroneous refund.

--
David M. Woods, EA, ChFC, CLU
Woods Financial Services
Norwood, MA 02062
www.woods-financial.com

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"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk[at]chinet.chinet.com> wrote:
- quote -

Your point being? The refund was erroneous. She knew it
was erroneous. She cashed the check. See Section 7405. She
owes the money plus interest.

--
David M. Woods, EA, ChFC, CLU
Woods Financial Services
Norwood, MA 02062
www.woods-financial.com

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Dan Evans <dan[at]evans-legal.com> wrote:
- quote -

No, they filed a correct return. The IRS made a mistake and
thought it had an error and they were owed an additional
$600.

- quote -

Maybe the believed the IRS? Non-professionals often will.
(The IRS has a much better record on my tax returns than I
do.)

- quote -

So it isn't worth worrying about.

- quote -

If they could. The problem is they claim they can't.

Seth

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thanks so much everyone for your responses. Let me clarify
a few things. We submitted a return which we believed was
correct. The the IRS direct deposited an amount some 600
more than our expected return. We called to ask what had
happened and were told that the IRS had found an error - and
that we had shortchanged ourselves. The IRS said that the
additonal money was ours to spend.

I have had this happen in the past, and they were right... I
had made an error and was owed more - so I really didnt
think much of it.

Now, 3 months later, they have sent us the notice that our
return was erroneous - and they are saying it was our fault.
I dont know if that changes any of the responses...

we are calling the IRS lady tomorrow because after looking
over their paperwork carefully it appears that

1. They initially gave us credit for the child tax credit
(which we initially thought that we were ineligible for
based on my husbands immigrant status and foreign earned
income)

2. They now want a refund of the ADVANCE child tax credit
(which I never recieved as my ex husband claimed our son
last year)

so to cut it short now we arent sure at all what is going on!

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Dave Woods <davidwoods[at]verizon.net> wrote:
- quote -

Why is everyone saying she knew she shouldn't have received
the money? It appears to me that she said the IRS told her
it was correct.

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Dan Evans <dan[at]evans-legal.com> wrote:
- quote -

You did not read that correctly. She filed the return. IRS
wrote to her, informing her of a mistake on the return, and
refunded $600.

- quote -

Did she know that? She filed the return, thought the tax was
correct. She was then told that the tax wasn't correct and
received a refund.

Either she made a mistake on the return, or she didn't. But
you've assumed she made a mistake on the return AND she
shouldn't have received that $600 refund. How can that be if
her mistake was in the government's favor?

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"Elizabeth" <ladybentley[at]msn.com> wrote:

- quote -

Pay it back with interest. You knew you really shouldn't
have gotten the money and you went and spent it anyway. At
the very least you should have waited until you got an
explanation letter, of which it looks like the letter you
got said they screwed up and the refund was erroneous.

--
David M. Woods, EA, ChFC, CLU
Woods Financial Services
Norwood, MA 02062

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ladybentley[at]msn.com (Elizabeth) wrote:

- quote -

Contact your Congressman, this is one of the issues
addressed in "The Taxpayer Protection and IRS Accountability
Act", H.R. 1528. It may not help you right now because it's
still being worked, but this is a way to add pressure to fix
it. Title I section deals with just what you describe.

BC

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adybentley[at]msn.com (Elizabeth) wrote:

- quote -

1. You made the mistake on the return, not the IRS.

2. You knew that you were going to have to repay the $600
to the IRS before you spent it.

3. The interest should be only 4% through 3/31, and 5% from
4/1 through 6/30, or no more than about $12 for a six-month
period.

If I were you I would repay the money as quickly as possible
and then forget about it.

*Dan Evans
*Author of the Tax Protester FAQ
*http://evans-legal.com/dan/tpfaq.html

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Elizabeth wrote:

- quote -


Section 6404(e)(2) provides that:

(2) Interest abated with respect to erroneous refund check
The Secretary shall abate the assessment of all interest on
any erroneous refund under section 6602 until the date
demand for repayment is made, unless--
(A) the taxpayer (or a related party) has in any way
caused such erroneous refund, or
(B) such erroneous refund exceeds $50,000.

--
To e-mail me get rid of the cats and dogs.

So you should only have to pay interest from the
date of the notice.

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My Husband and I filed our tax refund earlier this year. We
got a letter from the IRS stating that we had made an error
on our return and we were owed about $600 more than we
figured. I called the IRS to check on this and was told
that they had found the error and to go ahead and cash the
check. I asked what the error was and they said we would
get a letter explaining the change.

Well a few months have passed, and the money has been spent.
Now we get a letter saying that we have been overpaid by
that same 600. The letter demands that we repay it
immedietly, with interest!

We do not have the funds to repay this immedietly, or even
quickly. And I am NOT pleased to be paying the government
interest on a loan I never asked for!

Can anyone offer some advice?

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