GorillaOffTopic, Everything But Gorilla Trades

Taxpayers this year were primed and ready for their tax stimulus checks to arrive in the mail. The President’s plan to inject a little life into the economy sounded like a great one. The rebates, are the centerpiece of the government’s $168 billion plan to revive the unstable economy, providing up to $600 for individuals, and up to $1200 for married couples. And some will receive $300 for eligible children under age 17. It is a good plan. After all, who wouldn’t love a little extra money, especially at a time when the economy feels strikingly similar to the 1990’s? With all of the doom and gloom in the air, gas prices being outrageous, and food prices that are ridiculous, some people are literally desperate for some extra cash.  The IRS has already refunded about $27 billion to about 30 million tax-payers. It still expects to pay out another $130 million by the end of June, with the last checks going out around July. But now, thousands of people are saying that the IRS messed up big time, making mistakes with peoples’ checks. The mistakes were not minor, and caused many people to have to contact the IRS to have new checks sent out to them. Many people said they received a check addressed to them, but when they opened it, it was made out to someone else! Other people complained of just the opposite problem; the check was mailed to someone other than themselves, making it likely that some dishonest person may have cashed a check not made out to them. Others simply said they never received a check at all, even though they received a letter stating the check was enclosed with it.  In addition, it is reported that over 350,000 households are not receiving their child refunds of $300 per child owed to them. So what really happened? Why is the IRS making these costly and inconvenient mistakes? The tax agency claims that it is simply human error and computer glitches that are to blame for the mistakes, affecting the small percentage of the over 130 million taxpayers in the U.S.  IRS spokesman Terry Lemons said the agency was “confident it had identified all of the people affected by the mistake.” He said the IRS will send letters to those who missed out on the refund, and that checks for the child credit will be mailed out in July. Well, what can you do? You cannot exactly argue with the IRS, and any excuse they give, as lame as it is, will have to do since we have no other choice but to accept it.  But in the Gorilla’s humble opinion, the IRS should be held to a much higher standard since that is exactly what they expect of you, the taxpayer. It seems wrong that if the shoe were on the other foot and YOU made a similar mistake, your excuse-no matter how great, would simply be unacceptable. Then again, you are entitled to extensions, but then you must pay a penalty. So this begs the question…shouldn’t the IRS have to pay some sort of “penalty” to those taxpayers with whom they made mistakes? After all, they too are essentially being given and “extension” of sorts! Hey a guy can dream, can’t he?