Dear
Sir or Madame,
In February I wrote a letter to you
regarding my husband, Craig Franklin, who had not filed a tax return in 25
years. I was not aware that Craig was
not filing. In fact, I believed that I
had succeeded in bringing him up to date, and had initiated the preparation of
tax returns for 83 - 87 and paid the bill to the accountant.
I wrote asking for help with a very
painful situation that has almost ruined
us financially and come near to killing my husband. All I received from you were demands for more
money - that we don’t have and never owed.
Craig is now under the care of a
psychologist who is helping him sort out the source of this deep-seated phobia
regarding all paper work. - and all authority figures. I have personally sorted through 29 cartons
of papers dating from the late 60’s. It
was in the course of this excavation that I discovered the never-mailed tax
returns at the bottom of carton 9 (Saturday night around 11:00 p.m.) In the cartons were unopened letters from family
members, traffic tickets, some over 20 years old, and an astonishing array of
stuff that I will not bore you with. I
have no idea how it was possible for him to deceive me, his birth family, and
others. But he is extremely intelligent,
his IQ is high enough to qualify him for Sigma, and so his therapist was not
actually surprised at his ability to avoid confessing to his problem for so
many years.
As I said in my earlier letter, Craig was diagnosed with adult on-set
diabetes as well and this has necessitated many changes for him - including my going into the office to
organize his work. Otherwise I still
might not know.
But now I do know and I understand
the emotional burden that Craig has carried all of these years. He could not file. He could not admit to his inability because
of a condition that has existed since he was a young child. But the most shocking thing that I saw was that although he,
because of his disability broke the law, he was not charged with
non-filing. Even though it must have
been obvious to you, or someone in the IRS that not filing was costing him
much, much more than simply hiring an accountant.
If you had charged him this
condition would have been revealed years ago and he could have not been
subjected to the stress and grinding fear that brought on him diabetes and
almost forced him to suicide.
I was appalled. I want several things.
First, I want to know what you are
going to do to repair the damage you have done to this man, and second, I
want to know what you are going to do to
prevent this from happening to others in similar situations.
it
goes without saying that we would pay no fines, penalties or
interest. I have been unable to find out
exactly how much money has been levied over and above that which was lawfully
owed, but every penny should be returned immediately.
I have no objection to paying what
is rightfully due, but the shocking way in which this matter has been handled
alarms me both for us and for others caught in similar situations.
The Americans with Disabilities Act
guarantees that individuals such as my husband will not be treated like
this. He was incapable of filing
paperwork - not or not paying what he owed.
I have been under treatment for a
heart condition. (Both of my sisters died of heart attacks in early middle age,
one at 36 the other at 59.) My younger
brother just had open heart surgery. I
want to know what you are going to do to stop this abuse of those who are
emotionally disabled.
I hope to hear from you as soon as
possible.
Sincerely,
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