Needing a Ped in a tax audit!

I've never seen this before - have any of you peds seen it? I'm
representing a client in a tax audit. The IRS is demanding a letter from
his children's doctor stating what dates they cared for the children and
their address and guardian. I'm ****ed off that these people a.) have to
go bother a doctor for this, wasting the doctor's time and b.) have to
go bother a doctor for this, wasting THEIR time as I don't even know
they'll get it.

Do doctor's offices have to do this crap much?

The situation is that the IRS is denying them the children as
dependents. The children live with their father and mother and are not
claimed by anyone else, it's a bit confusing as to who the IRS thinks
OUGHT to claim them. I think part of the problem is that the father is
not married to the mother and claims her as a dependent, too. (She stays
home with the little kids and he supports her - it's quite legal.)

These people moved four times in 2002 and the address they filed with most
likely NOT the address on the return when it was filed in 2003.
Furthermore, the guardian is probably noted as the mother as she is
the one who brought the kids in and the IRS is looking for the father's
name. Any idea on whether the doctor will write the letter we're looking
for? Should we just write the letter and offer it to the doctor to sign?

Thank God the mother kept lining up peds everywhere they moved. They
lived in four different states in 2002.

Wendy

"Wendy Marsden" wrote in message
...

Do doctor's offices have to do this crap much?


Constantly - I've never seen it with the IRS specifically but various
agencies asking for notes of various sorts is a daily fact of life.


Any idea on whether the doctor will write the letter we're looking
for?

Probably.

Should we just write the letter and offer it to the doctor to sign?


The easier it is on the doc the better the chances it will get done. So yes,
if you offer the letter to sign and include a self addressed envelope they
will probably check the facts (which can easily be pulled up on most
computer systems), sign it, and send it back.

--
CBI, MD

Wendy Marsden wrote:

I've never seen this before - have any of you peds seen it? I'm
representing a client in a tax audit. The IRS is demanding a letter from
his children's doctor stating what dates they cared for the children and
their address and guardian.

If they claimed they were paying for the kids' health care, it's
a reasonable request.

Do doctor's offices have to do this crap much?

Yes, they do. If people would stop lying on their tax returns,
the problem would go away.


Tsu

--
To doubt everything or to believe everything
are two equally convenient solutions; both
dispense with the necessity of reflection.
- Jules Henri Poincaré

"JG" wrote in message
...
"Tsu Dho Nimh" wrote in message
...
Wendy Marsden wrote:

Do doctor's offices have to do this crap much?

Yes, they do. If people would stop lying on their tax returns,
the problem would go away.

This statement makes no sense. Plenty of people who HAVEN'T lied get
audited, just as people who haven't been drinking get tested at roadside
"sobriety checkpoints" and people who aren't armed and dangerous (i.e.,
terrorists) get pulled out of line for more thorough checks (inspection)
at airports. The function of all of these (audits, checkpoints, airport
scanning) isn't simply to catch someone who *might* be violating the
law, but to deter people from even *thinking about* doing so.

Vaccinating against smallpox continued for years after the last case was
detected, and now (at least according to some--our crack
intelligence?g) it's poised to recur as a terrorist weapon.

I am sorry. I don't see what this has to do with audits.

Your point regarding a cessation of audits begs the question of how we
(i.e., the gubmnt) would know that individuals *aren't* cheating on
their taxes without audits. Polygraph tests? Pentothal?

I do feel a *teensy* bit sorry for physicians; the gubmnt (via patients)
asks for a lot of verification from them. A couple of years ago, I had
to spend about two hours (two separate trips) getting my mom's primary
care physician to furnish a statement verifying that yes, she wasn't
medically able to serve on a jury (she has Alzheimer's, for heaven's
sake...though this might make her an attractive candidate in some
attorneys' eyes, I suppose g).

If the gubmnt would abolish income taxes, the problem would go away...

I don't see a better alternative. I guess a national sales tax would help,
but the problem is that a national sales tax would hit the poorest the
hardest. Of course, people would try to cheat on those as well (a lot of
cash transactions don't get recorded today. And a lot of transactions that
technically should be taxed, like barter, don't either). I guess the feds
can start a national real estate tax. Now that would not go over well.

Jeff

"Jeff Utz" wrote in message
...

"JG" wrote in message
...

Vaccinating against smallpox continued for years after the last case
was
detected, and now (at least according to some--our crack
intelligence?g) it's poised to recur as a terrorist weapon.

I am sorry. I don't see what this has to do with audits.

Simple analogy, Jeff.

IRS audits : income tax cheating
(smallpox) vaccination : smallpox

In each case, the first is intended to prevent the second. Tsu asserted
that if income tax cheating stopped, audits would (or could) stop.
Likewise, if smallpox stopped (i.e., if it were eradicated, which it
appeared to be), vaccination would/could stop (a gap of 22
years--1949-1971--in the US). But it *wasn't* eradicated (it's still a
threat), and it wouldn't be a threat if vaccination had continued. (Not
that I'm, in any way, criticizing the decision to halt routine smallpox
vaccination in '71--indeed, I think the decision should have come years
earlier, or that I'm advocating continuing vaccination against other
eradicated, or nearly eradicated, diseases.)

Your point regarding a cessation of audits begs the question of how
we
(i.e., the gubmnt) would know that individuals *aren't* cheating on
their taxes without audits. Polygraph tests? Pentothal?

If the gubmnt would abolish income taxes, the problem would go
away...

I don't see a better alternative. I guess a national sales tax would
help,
but the problem is that a national sales tax would hit the poorest the
hardest.

Not necessarily. Everyone could be given a monthly rebate based on
poverty-level spending. A national sales tax--say 23% on all goods and
services--would, in practice, actually be more progressive than our
current income tax system.

Of course, people would try to cheat on those as well (a lot of
cash transactions don't get recorded today. And a lot of transactions
that
technically should be taxed, like barter, don't either).

Your key words are "as well."

I guess the feds
can start a national real estate tax. Now that would not go over well.

Sheesh, Jeff, get back in the ballpark--you're even waaaay out of left
field! g