my letter to the irs

soulsinging wrote:

legitimate tax problems.

sonicreducer wrote:

we don't have enough say in how are taxes are allocated. i do not like to pay taxes. if i knew the majority of it was going for something worthwhile, then i wouldn't mind as much. it is very burdensome when i work 25 hours a week, but don't receive a paycheck b/c of health insurance and taxes. i am a bartender, which i know is partially the reason because of my tip claiming. it's just not fair to the college student who has to work. and i get most of them back. it is a waste of time.

farfromglorified wrote:

I had to call the IRS this morning and needed to entertain myself in the meantime. So I decided to write them a letter.


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To Whom It May Concern,

I recently used the IRS phone system to remediate a problem with a recent tax filing. The person I spoke to about my problem was very nice and was a big help. However, I did have to remain on hold before speaking to them. I believe the total hold time was close to an hour.

Now, I completely understand and am sympathetic to the volumes you are experiencing during this time of year. Furthermore, I don't even really mind holding. The music provided on the hold system was very pleasant, and my phone has a speaker on it so my hands and ears were completely free to do other things while I waited for a representative.

However, much to my dismay, an automated voice continued to break into the music to say: "Our representatives are still helping other customers." This indirectly implies that I am also a customer. I am not a customer. A customer is someone who purchases goods or services from another. I am not purchasing goods or services from you. Rather, you are simply demanding a certain amount of payment from me unattached to the goods and services I receive. If I received no goods or services from you, you would still demand the same payment. Furthermore, if I received more goods or services from you than that payment allotted for, you would not require additional payment.

Later on today, I'll be going to my local grocery store. There, I'll select a number of items that I wish to buy and I'll give money to the owner of that grocery store in exchange for those items. If I chose to keep my money, the grocery store owner would keep his groceries and we'd both go on our merry way. Notice how in this relationship both myself and the grocery store are willing partners who are allowed to assess the value of one another's contribution to the exchange. I'm allowed to determine if, in fact, the groceries are worth the price charged and he is allowed to determine if, in fact, the money I'll be providing is worth the groceries offered. If the owner of the grocery store forced me to take a pack of gum, for which he physically removed $1,000 from my wallet, would you still refer to me as a "customer"? Or if I filled my shopping cart and proceeded to rob the clerks in the store on my way out, would you still refer to me as a "customer"? I certainly hope not.

So, I'd appreciate it very much if you would change the automated message on your hold system to something more appropriate, such as:

"Our representatives are still helping other victims and looters."

Or even this:

"Our representatives are still helping other human beings."

But please don't refer to me as a "customer".

Sincerely,

-Jeff XXXXXXX
XXX-XX-XXXX