Things are Gettin Better...
I previously reported my troubles with the IRS. Those troubles remain. But recently, there has been some reason to hope. At the end of 2007 I got my own Tax Advocate, someone assigned by the IRS to help get things done, and get throught the beaurocracy, without actually filling the role of a tax attorney.
Today I found out that she was able to get ahold of my original 2005 tax return (something I'd never been able to do), and from her more extensive knowledge of tax law, was able to determine what the original issue had been. When I filed my original 2555 for 2005, I had filed it as a Bona Fide Resident, and not using the Physical Presence Test. It turns out, I wasn't bona fide. The Advocate said it is an easy mistake to make, as it seems from the instructions that, when one is in the US for two months in a given tax year, the Bona Fide Resident status applies, but it doesn't. I must file under the Physical Presence Test, which I easily meet.
So, now she's sending me the 2555 to fill out (again), and I'll do so with the Physical Presence Test. She even told me to call her once I got it, so I can fill it out with her on the phone, and make sure it's done correctly. At that point, she's optimistic that either she can clear this up herself, or the IRS can, but that the return should now actually begin processing its way through the system to get me my 2006 Refund that I was expecting in Summer of 2007.
Today I found out that she was able to get ahold of my original 2005 tax return (something I'd never been able to do), and from her more extensive knowledge of tax law, was able to determine what the original issue had been. When I filed my original 2555 for 2005, I had filed it as a Bona Fide Resident, and not using the Physical Presence Test. It turns out, I wasn't bona fide. The Advocate said it is an easy mistake to make, as it seems from the instructions that, when one is in the US for two months in a given tax year, the Bona Fide Resident status applies, but it doesn't. I must file under the Physical Presence Test, which I easily meet.
So, now she's sending me the 2555 to fill out (again), and I'll do so with the Physical Presence Test. She even told me to call her once I got it, so I can fill it out with her on the phone, and make sure it's done correctly. At that point, she's optimistic that either she can clear this up herself, or the IRS can, but that the return should now actually begin processing its way through the system to get me my 2006 Refund that I was expecting in Summer of 2007.
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