05-06-2026, 08:22 AM
So yeah. I have no trust in the system, and its not true that saving all your documents is going to save you from anything. They can manufacture or "find" documents that don't exist or shouldn't exist, and make you pay one way or another.
In as much as I can say that I too have no trust in the system, and I have no reason to doubt your stories, but in my humble opinion, I believe you have been truly misinformed.
First, with respect to your wife's duplicate W-2's being filed by a now nonexistent employer, yes, it happens, A lot more than one would think. However, the IRS does have steps in place to, in most cases, detect a duplicate filing. Primarily, the IRS and the SSA communicate and verify reported earnings and remittances. If an employer does remit a duplicate W-2 your SSA contributions for that year would have been doubled what there actually were.
As for one of the best documents to always keep is your paycheck stubs. Especially the last one of each year as it should match your W-2.
Since the employer is no longer in existence to verify an accidental duplicate filing, all one would need to do is file IRS Form 4852 which allows for you to substantiate true earnings, provide supporting documentation and explain in detail the issue.
Further, any tax attorney who tells you to just pay the IRS what they say you owe instead of fighting it (assuming you are correct) is not a real tax attorney and should be disbarred.
Lastly, the IRS does not produce nonexistent documents. While it's true that if you claim something and are subsequently audited and can't back it up with reasonable documentation, well your hung with the taxes owed, plus everything else they can throw at you. But when faced with the IRS claiming you made twice as much money as you reported due to an employer issuing duplicate a W-2, the first question to ask is why would any employer issue 2 identical W-2's? And where is the SSA remittance on the other half of the supposed reported income? Also, since an employer sends the IRS and the subsequent state filings under separate cover or separately electronically, your state tax return is also evidence as to your true income.
My husband and I had a long, drawn-out audit issue with the State of California that dragged on over 5 years and dealt with several years of taxes on income earned and taxed in California versus Hawaii. While representing ourselves not as attorneys but just as taxpayers, we finally won our case. The State of California thus owed us several years of modest refunds plus interest. At that time California was under a severe financial crisis. Our refunds finally came in what looked just like a check but was actually 180 day "IOU!"
In as much as I can say that I too have no trust in the system, and I have no reason to doubt your stories, but in my humble opinion, I believe you have been truly misinformed.
First, with respect to your wife's duplicate W-2's being filed by a now nonexistent employer, yes, it happens, A lot more than one would think. However, the IRS does have steps in place to, in most cases, detect a duplicate filing. Primarily, the IRS and the SSA communicate and verify reported earnings and remittances. If an employer does remit a duplicate W-2 your SSA contributions for that year would have been doubled what there actually were.
As for one of the best documents to always keep is your paycheck stubs. Especially the last one of each year as it should match your W-2.
Since the employer is no longer in existence to verify an accidental duplicate filing, all one would need to do is file IRS Form 4852 which allows for you to substantiate true earnings, provide supporting documentation and explain in detail the issue.
Further, any tax attorney who tells you to just pay the IRS what they say you owe instead of fighting it (assuming you are correct) is not a real tax attorney and should be disbarred.
Lastly, the IRS does not produce nonexistent documents. While it's true that if you claim something and are subsequently audited and can't back it up with reasonable documentation, well your hung with the taxes owed, plus everything else they can throw at you. But when faced with the IRS claiming you made twice as much money as you reported due to an employer issuing duplicate a W-2, the first question to ask is why would any employer issue 2 identical W-2's? And where is the SSA remittance on the other half of the supposed reported income? Also, since an employer sends the IRS and the subsequent state filings under separate cover or separately electronically, your state tax return is also evidence as to your true income.
My husband and I had a long, drawn-out audit issue with the State of California that dragged on over 5 years and dealt with several years of taxes on income earned and taxed in California versus Hawaii. While representing ourselves not as attorneys but just as taxpayers, we finally won our case. The State of California thus owed us several years of modest refunds plus interest. At that time California was under a severe financial crisis. Our refunds finally came in what looked just like a check but was actually 180 day "IOU!"