Taxes

Guess, you guys must be tired of my posts on taxes. I think this is my last one, quoting something verbatim from a newsletter that I receive:

Whenever you mail checks, tax returns or other documents
to the IRS, make copies for your records and send the originals
via registered mail, return receipt requested. This way, if the
IRS claims it didn’t receive your papers, you have proof that
you mailed them by the due date, and you can easily produce copies.

Without these important steps, you could find yourself having
to prepare your returns all over again, but without supporting
documents such as W-2s or 1099s. You also could find yourself
forced to pay interest and penalties, in addition to the tax you owe.

Right now, 30,000 taxpayers — including thousands of Virginia
residents — wish they’d followed my advice, because their
third-quarter estimated tax payments are at the bottom of San
Francisco Bay. A U.S. Postal Service truck ran off the bridge
into the deep, cold waters.

The IRS actually considered hiring scuba divers to try
rescuing the mail. Instead, the agency decided to contact
individuals directly. If you live in Virginia, Alaska, Arizona,
California, Hawaii, Ohio, Utah, Washington or Wyoming and you send
quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS’s San Francisco office,
don’t be surprised if the IRS tells you that it hasn’t received your
payment.