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Yeah, that’s sort of a weird title for a blog post, but I’m not sure what else to put. I like to keep things rated G on here (so my son can read it and I don’t feel weird about it), but believe me, I felt like writing something else for the title.
It’s been almost two weeks, and the IRS has not cashed our self employment tax check yet. If there is one entity that I want to be completly A-OK with, it’s the IRS. It makes me sick to my stomach and I’m upset to see more money in our account than should be there.
I’m not sure what to do. Should I wait and hope it finally arrives? I’ve never had a payment to the IRS take this long. Should I cut another check? If I did that, I’d have to pull from our savings.
I am 100% certain that it was mailed because we made a special stop to the mail box to mail it. That envelope left my hands and fell into the box. I triple checked to make sure there was stamp on it. I did my part, but it hasn’t been cashed yet.
I guess I will give it a little more time before making a decision on what to do. I think I am going to look into making this payment automatically from now on.
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Posted: April 23rd, 2008 at 11:07 pm
In my experience the IRS cashes checks faster than anybody else. If I were you, I’d give them a call and check on it.
Posted: April 23rd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Is this your quarterly payment for estimated taxes due April 15? If so, I’d give them a bit longer as they are likely overrun with last minute annual tax returns also due April 15. I think people who generally file extentions, or don’t usually need to file at all, filed this year to take advantage of the tax rebate and I swear they all did it at the last minute!!
Posted: April 23rd, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Hey Tricia! It’s been a while! I’m sorry to hear you’re in a funk right now, but I agree with Nine Circles. The IRS doesn’t wait to cash a check, so I would pull out the old phone book and start making some calls. I hope everything else is well…
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 6:01 am
I’ve had it take up to 10 days for them to cash a check. However, it could indeed be because of everyone else paying for the 4/15 deadline and they are just backlogged. It couldn’t hurt to call them though, just so that you’re not worried anymore.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 6:23 am
I have to make my IRS payments electronically or I’m a mess worrying about whether it got there, did it get there on time, etc.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 6:55 am
I am a tax accountant, trust me, the IRS is VERY BUSY right now processing the payments that people sent in with their 4/15 returns and preparing for the economic stimulus payments. I would give it another few days before I do anything drastic.
Next time you might want to consider sending the check via certified mail. We mail all correspondence to the IRS this way. I creates a trail in case it gets lost and provides confirmation that it made it.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 7:18 am
The IRS hasn’t cashed my check either (for my income taxes), but fortunately I sent it certified mail and was able to track the number. For some reason it took 7 days to get from Washington DC to Atlanta! It was postmarked on time, so at this point I’m figuring its just a little slow getting through their processing.
Another note, my state income tax payment took 12 days to get delivered and it only had to travel a 4-hour drive!
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Why are you worried? If they don’t get the check, they will contact you. If you can show good faith that you sent the first one, they will understand. STOP WORRING ABOUT THE THINGS YOU CAN’T CHANGE!
If you worry about things you can not effect, what does that do to the things you can. Worry about what to eat for dinner, what clothes to wear, where your next walk will be to etc….
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 9:25 am
I don’t have anything to add to the good advice you’ve already received. I just wanted to say that I know how you feel - I HATE it when payments don’t post, and I get that knot in the stomach feeling too. In spite of all the good reasons to not worry and to wait, if it’ll make you feel better, go ahead and call. At least they can note in your file that you are concerned and it’ll be just another factor in your favor to establish good faith in case the check doesn’t make it. Hang in there!
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 9:39 am
When I mail anything tax related, fed or state, I always add delivery confirmation so no one can bug me later and I know when it got there.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Call, get someone to put something down on “paper” somewhere, so when they want penalties or anything outrageous, you can show that you tried to do the right thing before they called you.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I can’t stand it when checks don’t clear within a few days after I write it. Electronic banking is so much more efficient and I try to avoid using any more paper checks. Sure some things can still be paid by check but the delay is very annoying. With this being the IRS, I would assume they’re overloaded with work right now and haven’t processed the check yet. Keep an eye on it this week and if nothing happens soon, call them and find out what happened. I would highly suggest you do electronic draft to keep the IRS out of your worries.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
The penalties aren’t that high for late or non-payment of estimated taxes (we’re terrible about this ourselves, and when I discovered that missing an entire payment only cost me 1.89 at the end of the year, I’m now REALLY sloppy about it) if it has gone missing. Call if you are really worried, but personally, I’d sit tight another week to ten days.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
You always seem like your worried about something! Take a step back, forget about your debts, forget about payments, your husband looking for a job, etc. Forget it all! Get out and enjoy life, but don’t spend money! Seriously, when you’re older, you’re going to wish you didn’t worry. People worry too much. STOP WORRYING!!! Life is supposed to be enjoyed, not funktified….
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
The IRS has a system where you can be setup to make electronic payments to them. I think the abbreviation is EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System). There is a link on the home page http://www.irs.gov to Electronic IRS. It won’t help in this case but should do so in the future.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I bet the IRS is swamped. Everyone is tax happy this year. Eco-stimi payments are coming.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
They haven’t cashed our payment yet either. believe me I’m not worried about it! I’m more worried about spending the money that hasn’t left the bank!
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I say wait a bit longer. A lot of people race to meet the deadline every year.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Isn’t there a way to check on the status of your tax return at the IRS site? Might not apply in your case, though. Worth a look.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Check out EFTPS.gov — quick and easy.
Posted: April 24th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I am with Bret and Mary. Get set up on EFTPS. You can’t wait until the tax is due so do it now for your next payment. It takes a while to get it set up and they mail you a PIN and then you have to get an Internet password. VERY easy to do, and you can set up ACH Debit and it goes immediately with confirmation. DO IT!
I’m in a funk too. I think it might have to do with the weather getting so much better and wanting to travel, be outside, go to the beach, etc. We’ve been paying off our debt since ‘05 too…we were at $35K and now at about $10K. I think after a while you just get tired of saving and start to wonder when you will be able to stop paying for your sins of the past and start living for the future? I just keep telling myself that the funk WILL pass. IT WILL PASS!!!
Hang in there. We’re both almost there and we’ve come so far. I’ll race you to the finish!
Posted: April 25th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Yeah, I do worry about too much. My mom often tells me that I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. It’s something I always have to work on.
Rich - I think some of the funk is due to the weather becoming nice and my having to work late. I want to enjoy it more after such a long winter, but I can’t.
As race? Hmmm….I should warn you…I am very competitive
Posted: April 25th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I mailed off a check with my tax payment on 4/15 and it was cashed on 4/23. But I’m in the same city as my regional IRS office.
Posted: April 25th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Tricia…
Your warning is well received. After following your activities for so long I KNOW not to bet against you, even if I’m betting FOR me!
We’ll just have to finish up together.
Posted: April 25th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I’m still waiting for both my IRS and CA FTB checks to clear… it’s very strange as they usually clear instantly!