Today I took action and made a phone call that I should have made many years ago. We’ve had on again off again problems with the IRS for most of our marriage and rather than actually “manning up” and calling them, I’ve chosen to play the victim in every encounter and bury my head in the sand or hide my fear behind a belligerent facade. This time I decided that one way or the other we were going to confront our issues head on and come up with a final solution to our tax problems.
The weekend was spent researching and calling tax firms that advertise online in the hopes of finding a professional to take on the tax man. Unfortunately (or maybe it is fortunately?) our tax problems are less than $10K and below the threshold most of the big boys set for girding up to do battle. We found a couple of firms that would help us, but the fees were hefty ($1200 and up) and there were no guarantees.
I decided that before we ponied up the cash, I’d put in a call to the tax man myself and see if I could resolve our issues myself. I took multiple deep breaths before the call and then placed myself at the mercy of the IRS. The revenue officer I dealt with was very nice, realistic, and helpful. He asked me lots of questions about our income, laughed when I asked if he was going to come out and verify the exact mileage on my car, and we worked out an agreement we could live with.
Getting off the phone I felt as if 10 years of fear and frustration were lifted off my shoulders. The encounter was nowhere near as hellish as I’d convinced myself it was going to be and I realized that maybe I needed to start facing more of my problems head on instead of the passive aggressive way that I sometimes approach issues.
Cairn by Cairn 