OPINION:
A 76-year-old Tennessee farmer, Wilson Perry Kirby, mistakenly received a $20,000 refund from the IRS in 2022, and when he tried to return it, the IRS wouldn’t let him. So he hired a tax expert to take care of the matter. But that didn’t work, either. Instead, the IRS charged him interest and took his entire 2025 tax refund amount as payment — as payment for the $20,000 the IRS mistakenly sent him in 2022 and subsequently refused to take back.
Holy you-know-what.
This is why Americans hate the IRS.
Even when you try to do the right thing, the IRS flexes and seizes.
From News Channel 5 in Tennessee: “The IRS has not publicly addressed the specifics of Kirby’s case, citing federal privacy law.”
That’s rich.
In an X post, Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty wrote, “I’ve directed my office to look into this and offer our assistance.”
Better hurry. The IRS is threatening to take his farm.
“Tennessee Man Faces Property Seizure After Trying to Return IRS’ $20,000 Mistake,” Business Times posted on Facebook.
It’s not enough to fix the mistake and clear Kirby’s record with the IRS and wipe out — or return — the seized payments.
Somebody has to be held to account and pay the consequences.
Someone within the IRS — somebody seated within an IRS office — someone or somebody, and more like a group of somebodies — had on hand the information to show that Kirby tried to return the $20,000. Someone within the IRS knew Kirby’s accountant tried to return the $20,000. Yet someone within the IRS — more likely, a group of somebodies — made the decision to refuse the return of money; refused to acknowledge the bureaucratic error; and instead, chose to criminally, wickedly, deceptively seize Kirby’s 2025 refund monies. Someone within the IRS offices knew the IRS had made a mistake, but rather than fix the mistake, decided to persecute an innocent American individual.
This isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare.
This is a jail-able offense.
Someone within the IRS needs to pay the consequences for this persecution, and those consequences should include fines, fees, firing and imprisonment.
A message to the IRS must be sent loud and clear.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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