Stimulus Check and IRS - unbelievable

[Lesa13]

Hi all -

I am 3 months from being done with my Chapter 13 bankruptcy. All of my back taxes were in it and are being paid (as a matter of fact, they have already been paid by the court as they were one of the first ones paid). My 2007 taxes were also paid (by me).

I got the letter a few weeks ago telling me I would get the $600 and my date was 6/20. As of today (6/23) no check and when I called or got online to get info as to mailing date it said "no information."

After 45 min on hold, I was told that because of the BK, the check is frozen. I asked why since IRS has been paid everything owed already. The "insolvency" department obviously was not on the ball enough to begin with to prevent the letter being sent out 3 weeks ago saying I was getting the check on 6/20, so why all of asudden is it "frozen"? Why wasn't that determined long ago (so I could at least fight it?).

Basically the guy didn't know, couldn't say and "you may or may not get it." I asked him if there was any kind of time frame or communication I could expect to get on this and he said "at some point this year."

Unbelievable! I completely understand people refusing to pay taxes and going AWOL from society. Citizens are held to a much higher standard than the government agency that is SERVING THEM and is funded completely by their dollars!

I am really not happy about this as I was, as most are, planning on paying off bills with this $600 and was pretty much planning on having it by now. I guess if I hadn't called, I wouldn't have known what was going on, so at least I have information.

However, the IRS sucks! No doubt about it.

Anyone have the number for the "insolvency" department at the IRS that I could call and perhaps light a fire under them to figure out what they are going to do with my money?

Thanks.

[Flamingo]

It's because of your back taxes in your bankruptcy and that you are in their BK section that has messed up things for you. Your BK just delays what would be normal for other folks. You will eventually get the money but you will have to be really proactive about it. The best thing to do is to contact the IRS back, get the insolvence section for your area (depends on the state in which you live) and call them and find out what you need to do to resolve the situation. I would get a copy of your payments to date from your attorney (who can print them out offline for you) before that call and ask if you can fax or mail a copy in (you cannot email to the IRS).

You will get it resolved...it's just that your BK held things up a bit for you...I had back taxes in our Chapter 13 also - it can be a mess. It gets better after discharge....

[Lesa13]

Thanks Flamingo, I hope you are right! I was just on the phone with my father who said "you try to do the right thing [filing 13 instead of 7] and no matter what, you end up getting scr*wed at every turn by creditors and the government anyway!"

Also thanks for the tip about the insolvency department - hopefully I can find a real person to talk to there.

[remorsefulinGA]

Thanks Flamingo, I hope you are right! I was just on the phone with my father who said "you try to do the right thing [filing 13 instead of 7] and no matter what, you end up getting scr*wed at every turn by creditors and the government anyway!"

Also thanks for the tip about the insolvency department - hopefully I can find a real person to talk to there.

I feel the same way. We tried to do the right thing and keep getting scr*wed too.

Same situation with the IRS too. Ridiculous. They shouldn't send out letters saying you are getting it by a certain date!

[buchanj]

i e-filed and got mine by the date. they might be behind. I had lots of back taxes so thats not an issue. Did you sign off to the trustee taking all refunds? or do you send them the refund? My att told me not to sign the power of att to the trustee.

[jgarton244]

I would send an email detailing your facts to one of your US Senators. It is surprising how attentive their offices are to voters, especially during an election year. My father in law age 84 moved from NJ to Kansas this year. His birth certificate has an extra "N" at the end of his name. It was never a problem until he tried to get a new drivers license in KS. They refused, because his name on birth certificate did not match his other items like old license, SS card, etc. State refused to give him a license. We went round and round for a few months. Email to Senators office resolved the problem in less than three weeks.

[jay]

I also received a letter saying that we would be receiving our check no late than
July 4th. Because my attorney had alluded to the fact that the trustee would probably take the stimulus check, being that we are in chapter 13, I was surprised by the letter we got. I called the Insolvency Section of the IRS and entered my husband's SS# the first time and then called back and entered mine. Both times the recording said that there were no debts to keep our stimulus check from being sent out. That gives me so much hope, but I am still very nervous about it actually happening...I don't see our trustee letting anything go or making a mistake. Has anybody else tried calling the Insolvency Section of the IRS? I just wonder how accurate the information I got was. The number by the way is 1-800-304-3107. I would love to hear what they say Lesa13, Thanks!

[nervousnellie]

Stimulus Payment

Here's the # I called

1-800-913-9358

We were discharged 6-22-07
but their records showed still active!
Claims person went to Court website to verify discharge and changed their info immediately!

Our original date for payment was 6/13

After talking to them our new payment date is now 7/11

Hope this phone # helps.

[Lesa13]

Thanks for all the info. This actually was a good wake up call for me. I pulled both the POC and amended POC the IRS filed - and that amended claim made NO sense and had numbers on it that were not accurate. I basically sent the IRS a letter saying here's the info you filed, here is what you have been paid by the Court and I need to know what in h*ll you are doing! Plus I also asked that they forward to me whatever they are filing with the court showing that they have received that $600 which would, in effect, lessen by $600 what they get from the court. We'll see what happens. I'm not too sanguine about actually ever seeing the $600 but do hope to get a logical break down of what they say I owe, what they have been paid to date by court and proof that they aren't double dipping (ie taking my tax incentive and still taking everything the court dishes out). That IRS, gotta love 'em!