Guy Uses Loophole To Get IRS To Reverse Fee

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mattstaff
Apr 8, 2020 8:00 AM EDT

This is a perfect blend of a petty and pro revenge. Nathan sounds like quite the resilient, obsessive mind when it comes to pushing back against various curveballs that life can toss one's way. Yes, Nathan took this revenge to surprising, wild heights. It sounds like he was ultimately victorious if this story is indeed grounded in truth. 

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  • 01
    Text - Text - r/ProRevenge u/fox-mcleod • 1y + JOIN 3 [x-post from r/MaliciousCompliance] Nathan vs. the IRS I can't believe it took me so long to think of posting this. You guys are in for an epic one here. First, you have to appreciate the kind of guy Nathan is. Brilliant engineer/crazy person. Because Nathan likes rules and Nathan doesn't give up when he knows how things should work. I like to get him to tell the story whenever we're together because he doesn't even see why it's funny - it's
    via u/fox-mcleod
  • 02
    Text - Text - Nathan was like if you saw Sysiphus and you thought, maybe I should try to stop him. But then one day, the boulder was on top of the hill. And you go and ask Sysiphus how he did it and he replied, "it was simple... I just kept pushing it forever and ever, and eventually... the mountain gave up." A real Grade 19 Bureaucrat. He just works systems through problems no matter how daunting they should seem. Until one day, when Nathan's unstoppable force met an immovable object. I came in
    via u/fox-mcleod
  • 03
    Text - Text - I ask him about it and he calmly starts explaining that he's "having trouble with the IRS." I probe a little deeper since that in no way explains more than one check or envelope and he starts telling me about how last year during tax season he was in China for work so he started filling his taxes out early while at his parents' house. He owed a little but left before he could mail it in. But he remembered while in China and (broke through the firewall in order to) paid it online. B
    via u/fox-mcleod
  • 04
    Text - Text - Well, it turns out that NYS IRS has a cancelled check fee of something like $40. And they sent Nathan a bill and penalty for the $40... That was it. That was the whole story. A $40 fee. Nathan, why do you have 20 checks on your desk? "Oh, well after I explained to them what was wrong with the fee they didn't get it." So Nathan spent the next 4 weeks escalating the issue to the point that he got a case officer - a real, live human agent on the phone with a case number. Nathan starte
    via u/fox-mcleod
  • 05
    Text - He explained that his parents wrote the check but that he was the one being charged the fee. The agent explained that this was the policy of the IRS - "All cancelled checks will result in a $40 fee". The agent and Nathan went in rigorously compliant circles for hours exploring the rules. Nathan then calmly confirmed that:
    via u/fox-mcleod
  • 06
    Text - Text - 1. It is the policy of the IRS to allow just anyone to write a check on behalf of anyone else - "yes sir that is fine. You just need to indicate the name and zip code of the account." 2. It is the policy of the IRS to charge a $40 cancellation fee to the person whose account is indicated on the check. - "yes sir, that is the policy in NYS". This means that - and I swear to God he actually asked the agent this hypothetical on the phone - "I (Nathan) could write a $10 check and indic
    via u/fox-mcleod
  • 07
    Text - Text - So, that's what Nathan did. And that's what was doing with 20 checks on his desk and what he meant by "IRS trouble". He was following through... sending checks to the IRS addressed to pay the taxes of the agent and the agent's manager - so Nathan could cancel them, causing the agent and his manager to owe the IRS a fee for each cancelled check. He was exploiting the same flaw in the system in which he was caught to essentially extort the IRS agents. I laughed about this for weeks a
    via u/fox-mcleod
  • 08
    Text - Okay this is big enough to make some corrections. So I texted nathan on his wedding weekend in China since it's blowing up and he had some corrections: 1. Technically, it's.not the federal IRS. It's the NYS Dept. Of taxation and finance. 2. Apparently it wasn't a written letter he got back. It was a phone call truce from the agents 3. It was only a handful of checks he sent. 4. The fee was for $50 with late fees. Lol
    via u/fox-mcleod

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