It seems like something out of a spy novel: A woman mailed a check to the IRS, only to have it returned to her completely blank! Here's what happened.
Everything she had written is gone, except for a faint shadow you might be able to see if you looked very carefully.The notice from the court said Bassan had to find a pen that resists irradiation, and write another check .She went online and found some pens with radiated ink. But they cost $254 for a pack of 100.
"I'm not gonna go buy a special pen just to write one check. I refuse," she said. "So then I thought, 'Oh, Michael Finney!'" 7 On Your Side learned the postal service irradiates mail addressed to government offices in Washington D.C. -- ever since the big anthrax scare of 2001. That's when criminals were sending envelopes with deadly anthrax powder through the U.S. mail.The postal service acknowledged radiated mail can become brittle or yellowed. The tax court tells us ink disappears from its mail "on occasion.""My own government is irradiating the mail and has erased my information.
Well, this story does have an oddly happy ending. Before Bassan could send in a new check, the IRS reconsidered her case, and waived that penalty. She didn't need to go to court, didn't need to pay a filing fee. Thanks to the disappearing ink, she saved $60 - and a story that could make for a good spy novel.7OYS's consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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