Next time the IRS bangs on your door asking you for your tax form, just tell ’em your dog ate it. Your dog named TurboTax.

In a pair of letters, 200620018 & 200620019 [pdf], released Friday, the IRS used it discretionary authority to allow a taxpayer to pay late: “It is represented that Taxpayer did not realize that the software program did not compute the proper amount to include in investment income and merely elected to include all qualified income in investment income.”

The IRS found the taxpayer “acted in good faith” and let the taxpayer go home with “a lollipop and a sticker of their choice.”

“IRS Accepts Tax Software Glitch As Excuse for Late Election” [TaxProf Blog]

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