When having an issue with your taxes and calling the IRS of instructions, is what we have been instructed to do, it is in the instructions. They are supposed to be the experts.
Relying on an IRS phone operator’s incorrect advice doesn’t avoid a tax bill.
A man called IRS to ask for assistance in reporting retirement payouts he got.
He said he followed the advice of the IRS operator, which turned out to be incorrect. The Tax Court agreed with IRS that the man owed tax. Wrong advice from an IRS worker
isn’t law, nor does it bind the agency or the courts.
Why is everybody else held to a higher standard? Why is the IRS incapable of giving accurate advice?
Peak, TC Memo. 2021-128