Report on Confrontation with IRS in Atlanta, Oct 04
From Elaine: The weather was fabulous; sunny, warm and a slight breeze.
I had agreed to attend a summons meeting with the IRS. The following is my summary of the summons hearing.
Dr. Clarkson and I traveled to Atlanta early in the day. The reason for the mid-day arrival included an early meeting with the victim of the IRS. The victim, Glenn and Dr. Clarkson reviewed the materials of the summons and the expected events for later that day. We then went to a local restaurant for lunch. Certainly we could not meet with the IRS and not have an adequate meal to sustain us. After the lunch, we traveled to the noted IRS building. Outside we gathered in arms gaining in strength by numbers.
The first greeting at the IRS building was by the security officers. “What cause are you here?” Our reply was to attend a summons conference with the IRS. After passing through the metal detector, we were off to the elevator. The security officers had pointed to the elevators. The rising box we chose did not stop at the appointed floor. Confused and bewildered, we exited the elevator on the 18th floor to walk a short distance to the elevator that took us to the 9th floor. A smile appeared on my face as we exited the other elevator. At the hospital where I had worked for a long time, the 9th floor was the psychiatric ward. Appropriate floor for the IRS offices, do you agree?
During our walk to the office, we met a young woman who was obviously stunned. The woman was the Glenn’s contact representative from the IRS. She pointed toward the hall of the conference room and indicated she would be there in a minute. The meeting was to be at 3:30 PM. The attendees of the meeting numbered about eight. We took all of the chairs in the conference room. Go figure how that affected the agent.
The IRS agent entered the conference room, started to the side of the table and stopped. There on the table was a usual sized tape recorder paused and ready to document the conversations and responses between the attendees and the IRS agent. Her first remark was to the Glenn, “Is that a tape recorder?” That took a genius mind! She then retorted that we could not have a tape recorder without permission. What a laugh! Glenn had written a letter to the agency telling them he would record the meeting. Oops, flaw for the IRS. With a frown on her face and a body language of complete disgust, the agent pivoted and left the room.
The time seemed to creep while we waited on the agent’s return. When Carla did return, her “general manager” accompanied her with the same statement about the tape recorder. The two, one behind the other, left again. When they returned the committee of agents had grown. A man with a legal pad and pen joined the two women. The encroaching trio placed a tape recorder on the table. Dr. Clarkson, as he had proclaimed several times previously, eloquently extorted the flagrant disrespect of the assemblage by the lack of punctuality and time management by the IRS staff and the misuse of the citizen’s time.
We laughed quietly and smiled broadly. Chalk it up Dr. C.