Gotta love the IRS

[unixronin]

When E-filing your 2008 Federal taxes, you use the AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) from your 2007 Federal return as an "electronic signature".  OK, simple enough.

So, naturally, if you filed an amended tax return for 2007 that changed your AGI, you use the correct, amended AGI.

Right?

Wrong.

This is the government we're talking about.  You use the original, un-amended AGI.  Even if it's wrong.

Because using the CORRECT AGI will cause the IRS to reject your return.

Your tax dollars at work out getting hookers and blow.

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

You're part of the digital age. I am a spectator, not using E-file.

*Thumps cane on floor* "Postal service was good enough for Grandpappy, it's good enough for me!"

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

I want my money now, thank you. They've already had it for a year without paying me interest. Screw let them having it for longer while their postal service moves the paperwork.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

That would require us to have electronic banking in place, which we do not. The upside is, I can ignore phishing scams . . .

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

You can smell the stinky from 99.9% of the phishing scams at a thousand meters anyway. I think I've had one in the past year that I actually had to look at a little more closely just to make certain it was a phish.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- for one thing, most genuine banks don't misspell words at that high a frequency . . .

You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[jmkelly.livejournal.com]

Using the AGI as an electronic signature was a stupid idea in the first place; whoever thought it up should be shot, along with those who approved it. You don't cast numbers to characters strings unless there is NO alternative (I would say "no better alternative," but any alternative at all is better); and you don't use anything that is liable to change as the origin of a character string that must not change if it is to remain valid. Even I know that, and I'm not a DBA.

Any number of concatenations of invariant data (ZIP code when filed, year of birth, last four digits of SSN, whatever) would have worked just as well and not been subject to change.

Or they could have actually worked out something with Verisign to hand out real PGP keys. Oh, but that would have required intelligence. Never mind.

Re: You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

you have to use the lowest common denominator ... grandma isn't going to get having to install an app, or goto a special website, and enter all her personal info, to get a special key. she can probably barely remember her social ;)

the trivial rumor mill says the guy who came up with 4 digit PINs did so because his wife said "i could never remember 5 digits"...

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Re: You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

But I'll bet you she had all her closest friends' phone numbers memorized.

Re: You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

cell phone directory? not likely...

except for a few people, i don't bother remembering numbers now. they change too much to be worth the effort. for some few, i have them written down as emergency contacts in my wallet. otherwise, er, not so much these days.

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Re: You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

This was long before cell phones, remember.

Re: You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention the mesozoic myself -- hell, some of us _still_ don't have cell phones.

Re: You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

I can get in to so much more trouble now than when I was younger that I enjoy the safety net of the cell phone.

Up here I could freeze to death if the car dies. I could get hit by another car and pushed off the road down in to a valley and not be found for days.

Re: You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Well, I usually have a 2-meter FM amateur radio transceiver in my car . . .

Re: You're complaining that there's no lipstick on that pig

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Using the AGI as an electronic signature was a stupid idea in the first place

You won't get any argument from me on that.