Dear John: I am a 71-year-old US citizen who has been doing his own taxes since I went to work in 1957.
In November, I received a Notice 1400 from the Internal Revenue Services notifying me that they would no longer be mailing paper tax packages.
I was told that I should acquire them from my library or post office.
On Jan. 13 I went to my library and they were able to provide me with copies of 1040 tax forms.
However, they did not have the 1040 booklet with instructions, tax tables and notification of any changes to the tax laws.
The people at the library said they would not be receiving them in the future and directed me to my local post office.
The same thing at the post office, where I was told to go to the main post office. I did and got the same results. I told them about the Notice 1400 that I had received and they had not heard of it. They said they would not be receiving any tax booklets for the 2010 tax years.
That same day I called the IRS and spoke with a guy who told me I’d receive my booklet in the mail. Today I got a letter from the IRS telling me that the tax products I ordered are not available. My question to you: Do you think that anyone in this administration has a clue? A.R.
Dear A.R. You are missing the whole point. Rather than this administration not having “a clue,” as you put it, this is really a very clever way to force Americans to get off their tushes and get some exercise.
You probably burned 1,000 calories running around after these documents. The aggravation alone was worth 200 calories. (We’ll forget the couple of points it added to your blood pressure.)
And your letter to me expended even more energy.
You deserve a beer! Take two bucks off your taxes to pay for it.
The IRS claims you can get any forms you want at http://www.IRS.gov. And since you wrote a letter to me on a computer I’ll assume you have Internet access.
But since you might not, I’m having H.R. Block mail you the forms you need.
And Block has promised not to harass you with any pitches for tax services since you probably know how to fill out your own forms if you’ve been doing it for more than five decades.
Now, this is a note for all my other readers: don’t expect me to get tax forms for you. I’m not going to be the one to ruin the IRS’s exercise-and-stressweight-loss program.
Readers: Last week we pub lished a letter about some one who was having trouble with his health plan. This week the problem appears to have been solved.
Dear John: I am at EmblemHealth, the parent company of GHI. We noticed your piece in last Sunday’s Post and would like to see if we can be of assistance to the member but do not have a way of contacting him without more information.
Can you assist? I.M.
Dear I.M. I have passed your information to the reader, who should be contacting you soon. Thanks for helping him out.
Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY, 10036, or john.cru dele@nypost.com.