The bastards! But I suspected that. So for all my future returns, I’ll just use this stamp. That should take the wind out of their sails.
. 
Posted on 06/08/2025 8:12:56 AM PDT by eastexsteve
This actually falls under the "you won't believe this" section, but I felt it was worth sharing.
> are both of these government agencies really this incompetent?
Yes. There is a reason why “close enough for government work” is not an assertion that something is of high quality.
Good post which illustrates a useful principle:
“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.”
- Napoleon
> Why didn’t you like electronically? <
I appreciate the ease of filing electronically. But I always paper file. My theory is that my electronic returns can be stored in their original form forever. I don’t like that. But maybe the IRS will throw my paper file away.
Maybe I’m just too wary of Big Brother here.
Turbo Tax failed me, couldn’t complete my return, couldn’t handle a MLP I owned. Spent 2 hours on the phone with a staff person and they finally gave up and said, “There’s a glitch in the system and I can’t complete your return.” Now I pay about a $1,000 to get my taxes done, plus another thousand for my Trust Return.
Post office shopping for competence is common now. I drive 25 miles to another county for a competent PO. There are two POs within 3 miles of me but they are woke broken.
“I appreciate the ease of filing electronically. But I always paper file. My theory is that my electronic returns can be stored in their original form forever. I don’t like that. But maybe the IRS will throw my paper file away.”
Your paper return is digitized as soon as it is received by thr IRS.
I know someone who filed IRS and state taxes electronically. They were intercepted in transit according the the FBI (Have no idea if that’s what happened) and as a result their identity was stolen likely by someone overseas like Russia then it was sold to various people all over the world. Cars were bought in her name, mortgages and on and on. 10+ years later the person is still dealing with it.
> Same with the letter, took a circuitous route to its destination in Florida after 10 days also. <
A friend of mine runs a small business in eastern Ohio. One of his suppliers lives in the same town as he does, about five miles away.
When my friend mails his supplier a check, the letter gets routed to Detroit for sorting. It’s then sent right back to his town (not kidding). My friend finally decided to just drive over to his supplier, and hand him the check.
Over the years, I’ve had a LOT more trouble with the USPS than with the IRS.
BFLR
“They were intercepted in transit according the the FBI”
Turbotax returns are encrypted.
The bastards! But I suspected that. So for all my future returns, I’ll just use this stamp. That should take the wind out of their sails.
.
I’ve had similar problems with the USPS which is why I now use FedEx.
‘any organization where bad employees cannot be fired.’
“What good are they (senators) if I can’t fire them?”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
While routing a letter from a sender in an Ohio town to Detroit before it goes to a recipient in the same Ohio town may seem wasteful, there are some reasons for doing so.
Your friend looks at their letter as an innocent one but someone running a scam via U.S. mail, coordinating with a local postal carrier, is difficult to catch. Adding in a sorting center makes it easier to track such mailings back to the source.
Your friend knows they're the sender and that the letter is legitimately going to the recipient. The Post Office doesn't know that. Outer envelopes are imaged and recorded. The envelopes are scanned for anthrax and other bio-agents that have been used in attempted murder cases. Ted Kaczynski, aka the "Unabomber" sent bombs through the mail.
Mail is stolen and carriers have been caught throwing it in the garbage. Adding in a tracking center increases the oversight of the locals.
The USPS lost a $5000 check that was headed my way. We had it voided and resent.
Another time I sent some papers a whopping 15 miles. It only took two weeks to arrive.
My son sold a $150 item on Facebook. USPS lost it and graciously offers to refund the shipping cost.
My son evidently got real persuasive because they ponied up what he paid for the item.
E-file and this could never happen.
YES!
I have a weird USPS/Ebay story.
We’re in a rural area. Local USPS people are great, although sometimes things get put in the wrong mailbox or dropped at a neighbor’s house. We’re all used to that and we cope. Eventually most things turn up.
I get a lot delivered because we don’t have many local stores. I’m used to tracking packages. Used to things getting held up for a week at the Indianapolis or Philadelphia distribution centers. Also used to the tracking trail going cold and then the item suddenly arriving out of the blue.
I had a need for a specifically-shaped USB hub for an old laptop. I found one I thought would work, but the details were vague. So I find one on ebay used for $6 with free shipping. Figure that will work to evaluate physically and if it arrives dead but fits the space, I’ll just order a new one for $20.
So I order it. Get a notice that the USPS label has been created. A week goes by. No shipping notice and I don’t have it. Go through the “I didn’t get it” process on ebay - seller doesn’t respond. Ebay credits me my $6. Case closed.
Two months later, I get an “out for delivery” notice from ebay and USPS. OK. Later in the day I get a notice that USPS has delivered my package. This thing is about the size of a square pencil eraser, so should be in an envelope or tiny box in my mailbox. Go to the mailbox - nothing. None of the neighbors have seen it. Verify on USPS tracking they have the right address. Wait a few days figuring someone will find it and stick it in my mailbox. Never arrives.
Since it didn’t cost me anything, I didn’t pursue. But the whole experience was multiple levels of weird from start to finish. I still don’t have it.
One financial outfit I deal with had to resort to sending me checks and documents via Fedex as the usps here got so unreliable... it started during the covid hysteria.
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