Today's quiz
The IRS screwed up when it processed our income tax return. It sent us a check for $165, to which we were not entitled.
What would you do in this situation?
(a) Keep the money for personal use.The correct answer is (d). Not only is it the ethical thing to do, it's also the smart thing. If we had kept this money, with our luck the IRS would discover its error a year or so from now, and then start dunning us for the $165 back, plus interest. No thanks.
(b) Give the money to a good cause.
(c) "Flow" it to Tony Pierce.
(d) Void the check and send it back to the IRS.
Of course, there's no guarantee that this won't be the first of a chain of mistakes by our good friends at "the Service," as they like to be known. The "customer service" fellow I talked to on the phone about the error -- a young man sitting in Philadelphia -- started out absolutely sure that we were entitled to the money. And even when I showed him the error that the tax system had made, he was still talking a mile a minute and not listening much.
I'm hoping that the mailman will now be taking this little hassle out of my life forever. But I wouldn't bet my life's savings on it.
| Posted at 12:53 PM | Permalink |
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