Dear Liz: In a recent column, you advised people to pay IRS tax bills online. Have you done this yourself? The wording of the choices to click on can be confusing. I tried to help my son pay online last year. We evidently chose the wrong type of tax and it went to “la la land.” He got late letters and fines. It took quite a while to get it rectified because you are on hold for HOURS. Who has time for that? Next year I’ll have him mail it and take our chances.
Answer: I’ve made exactly the mistake you describe and am aware of how frustrating it can be trying to get the situation rectified. But dealing with mail theft and check fraud is frustrating too.
Both of us would have benefited from consulting a tax pro first to ensure we were clicking the right buttons. A tax pro can also help in straightening out a snafu. The IRS was understaffed and struggling to answer its phones even before the government shutdown, but the dedicated number for tax pros often has shorter wait times than the one for the general public.
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