Opinion : IRS: 2 + 1 = 4

I am, I guess, perhaps the only American who goes to the mailbox every day, hoping for a letter from the IRS.

I hope that this time, the IRS employee who writes me knows that 2 + 2 = 4.

It's my fault, really. I claimed 4 children, instead of three, on my 2009 tax return, forgetting that the fourth one was on his own and shouldn't have been listed on my tax return.

So I sent in a 1099-X, removing the oldest kid from the return. Because of my income and filing status, having only three kids on my return would not affect my tax liability.

Or so I thought.

But when the IRS reviewed my file, they did the math. "If Dean claimed 4, children, and filed a 1099-X that removed one of them, then he should have only claimed 2. 4 - 1 = 2."

So, the IRS figured what my tax bill would have been if I only claimed two children. They also figured the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit with two children.

When they got done, they sent me a bill for more than $2,000.

"The IRS only wants you to pay what you owe; nothing more; if you disagree with this finding, please write to us," read the letter that accompanied the bill.

I wrote a letter to the IRS. I sent in a copy of my 2009 tax return. I explained my mistake; and theirs. I gave them my phone number.

That was a month ago. I have heard nothing back from the IRS.

Maybe I should have sent them a calculator.

Every IRS person that I have deal with up until this time has been helpful and competent; I am relatively confident that I will resolve this issue soon. But I also have a concern: If someone at the IRS cannot do simple elementary math, how are they handling the more complex and harder-to-understand financial calculations required by our tax code?