Originally Posted by
ManOntheLand
if I go to IRS first to ask them to correct their records I sort of have the upper-hand because I can default them after a reasonable time (30 days) and obtain tacit agreement if they do not respond. I look better in the record, and perhaps pre-empt any letters coming from them asking why I did not file (I no longer file returns). I feel better dictating what happens rather than just reacting to them. And I don't feel that asking them to correct their records creates any presumption of authority over me. They are obligated to keep correct records and make corrections when errors are brought to their attention. If they fail to correct their records I have a cause of action against them on that basis under the Administrative Procedures Act.
Avoiding the burden of proof whenever possible is a good approach, but I don't mind having the burden of proof to substantiate certain things, if I can easily meet that burden with a sworn statement, and I know they have little or no chance of coming up with any contrary evidence. I have no problem, for example, with substantiating that I did not voluntarily submit a SSN or elect to have my pay treated as "wages". My sworn statement to that effect serves as prima facie evidence that the W-2 is void, which is a "reasonable dispute" with the information return that requires them under IRC to obtain "reasonable and probative evidence" in addition to the info return itself if they want to treat it as true and correct. Think they will bother with all that? Not likely. In my experience their one and only tactic is to ignore what you send them and try to proceed as though they never got it.