If you made estimated tax payments during the first 10 days of September and you mailed the check to the IRS in San Francisco, you could have a problem:
A number of checks, most believed to cover estimated taxes from the self-employed, were lost on Sept. 11, when a truck carrying them to an Internal Revenue Service lockbox was involved in an accident on the San Mateo Bridge. Wind blew away an estimated 30,000 pieces of mail, many ending up in the bay.
Taxpayers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming are among those who could be affected. The IRS believes most of the missing mail includes estimated tax payments due on Sept. 15, and will waive penalties and interest for anyone whose payment was effected. In the meantime, taxpayers who sent checks to P.O. Box 510000 in San Francisco during the first 10 days of September should wait until October to see if their checks clear before contacting the IRS.
The problem is, of course, since these checks hadn't been processed, the IRS doesn't have any way of knowing whose checks were lost. Keep your eyes peeled if you made one of these payments.
That's like the happy ending for some movie. The truck sitting there while the driver shakes his head, as thousands of envelopes fly off in the breeze. That's gold!
Posted by: Kristin | Friday, September 23, 2005 at 10:32 AM