My two previous tax seasons were very eventful, to put it mildly, and not because of me, but mostly because of the organizational changes happening at my tax preparation company, plus me being in the middle of two tax brackets. Details do not matter; what matters is that my tax returns were late twice, the prep firm was filing extensions, and I also owed a lot.
This year, it was a nice change: there were no issues, they filed everything in time, and I ended up with a substantial refund. Only it was two weeks past the tax return was sent and presumably accepted, but I didn’t receive either a refund or approval. I started to worry, especially because the IRS website showed my taxes were not filed, but the prep firm assured me that everything was filed, and most likely, the IRS needs additional verification, and I should expect the letter. They also suggested me to create an online account with the IRS.
Still, nothing was happening. I called the IRS on April 15 and was able to reach a human, and they said that they didn’t have my tax returns, and I went over the full circle again.
About two weeks ago, I finally saw a notice on my online IRS account saying that they sent me a letter to which I need to respond ASAP. But nothing about what this letter is about. I kept waiting. Finally, last Monday, I saw the IRS letter in my Informed Delivery Digest. However, it turned out I spoke too soon: the letter didn’t materialize in my mailbox, and I was worried sick about what was going to happen now. At this time of year, there was no way to reach a human by phone; they kept routing me to the automated system.
Finally, when I was ready to write to our Congresswoman’s office, specifically, last night, when I opened the door to accept a grocery delivery, I noticed an envelope on the floor – it was my IRS letter! I am super thankful for someone who received it, realized that it was dropped into the wrong mailbox, and dropped it at my door!
At that moment, I submitted all additional documentation, and I hope that the issue will be resolved, as they say, within the next 6-8 weeks. When this is over, I will be sure to report details, but now, I am just happy to be out of uncertainty!
Hettie's Reflections 
Just out of curiosity: I realise your taxes are complex due to all activities, but does a regular employee need a professional help to do the taxes or can one survive by themselves?
LikeLiked by 1 person
It depends on several things, including how much of your own time you are willing to invest to save on professional help, how many potential deductions you can claim, and whether you OK to potentially lose some money because you chose to do it on your own.
For many years, I had a friend who was a professional accountant, and she would do taxes for friends and family for free (we just shared the cost of the Turbo Tax software which has to be renewed every your. Without Turbotax, it’s just an incredibly long and tedious process, even when you know what to do. If you are married with children, you need to decide whether you are filing jointly or separately, who declare your children as dependents, who uses the childcare allowance and who claims the mortgage deductions. If spouses salaries differ significantly, those are non-trivial math problems.
There are many other deduction about which you might not even know without professional help, so… It’s a horrible system!
LikeLiked by 1 person