It's tax season. And I thought I was being smart, filing my US taxes waaaaaaaay before deadline. I got all the paperwork together, got the right stamps, collected information for US citizens residing abroad - the whole shabang.
And then they sent me a tax bill. They ignored my carefully crafted letter explaining why I was exonerated from self-employment taxes. They even turned a cold shoulder to the certificate of coverage I managed to get from some nice people in Berlin who promised me I had everything I needed to finally, finally be in one tax system instead of straddling two.
Luckily, I only got bounced to three IRS representatives before I got to the right person who said she'll put my account 'on hold'. She's promised to write an inquiry and to keep Uncle Sam at bay until they've pulled my file, which might take thirty days.
Suspension of clarity ain't my strong suit. But at least they have nice classical music to listen to while they put you on hold!
