Comments on: Voluntary Disclosure Program WTF http://www.hodgen.com/voluntary-disclosure-program-wtf/ International and US Tax Law Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:45:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: CNMNB http://www.hodgen.com/voluntary-disclosure-program-wtf/comment-page-1/#comment-329 CNMNB Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:15:50 +0000 http://www.hodgen.com/?p=1891#comment-329 I got my IDR on December 28. That was 21 days after the date on the IDR. The deadline listed was January 15. Why the IRS sends mail to EUROPE via NEW ZEALAND is a mystery to me. But they do. Doesn't seem very direct. And why aren't they using the US postal service? When I tried calling the "hotline" number, all I got was an answering machine, which promised I would be called back "within one business day". It did not happen. So I called again the next day. And the next. And the next. On Jan 31, the IRS finally returned my call. The fellow was fairly apologetic. It turns out that the people manning the phones in Philadelphia can't normally return calls to numbers outside the US! People investigating international bank accounts can't make international phone calls? How crazy is that? Anyway I was relieved to hear that Jan. 15 is the the postmark date and not the arrival date. I got my IDR on December 28. That was 21 days after the date on the IDR. The deadline listed was January 15.

Why the IRS sends mail to EUROPE via NEW ZEALAND is a mystery to me. But they do. Doesn’t seem very direct. And why aren’t they using the US postal service?

When I tried calling the “hotline” number, all I got was an answering machine, which promised I would be called back “within one business day”. It did not happen. So I called again the next day. And the next. And the next. On Jan 31, the IRS finally returned my call. The fellow was fairly apologetic. It turns out that the people manning the phones in Philadelphia can’t normally return calls to numbers outside the US!

People investigating international bank accounts can’t make international phone calls? How crazy is that?

Anyway I was relieved to hear that Jan. 15 is the the postmark date and not the arrival date.

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