Best of TaxLetter: Taxpayer Relations

Computer Goof: IRS has threatened to seize the assets of ten thousand corporations in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and District of Columbia for nonpayment of payroll taxes. The problem? A faulty computer lost $300 million of withholding tax payments in late September and early October. IRS is sifting its records by hand to determine the extent of the problem. But it hasn't yet notified companies of the error. (No. 47)

Quotable: "All of us know that the IRS is the leading cause of hypertension in America." Rep. Tommy Robinson (D-Ark). (No. 47)

Warning! Before filing their 1983 returns, 19,500 investors in abusive tax shelters received letters from IRS warning them not to claim tax shelter deductions or credits. 97% ignored the warning. (No. 47)

Philadelphia IRS Service Center got so many phone calls in late April 1985 that the telephone company disconnected most of its phone lines to prevent a shutdown in the city's phone service. (No. 50)

The City of Holtsville, N.Y. revoked the property tax exemption for the Internal Revenue Service Center located there. The court held that the IRS does not enhance the health, education, safety, or welfare of the residents of Holtsville. Thus, it never qualified for exemption. (November 1979)