My IRS nightmare started when I asked my girlfriend at the time, to drop some letters at the post office, and it spiraled down from there.
I got in her car about a couple weeks later, lowered the visor, and found my tax return and other letters. I wasn't too worried because even though it was past the filing deadline, I was due a refund, so I thought.
About 3 months later, I hadn't received my refund check, but I get a letter from the IRS requesting $2700. I just knew this was a mistake, so I call to see what's going on.
It turns out that I never received a 1099 for some gambling winnings I forgot about.
Some buddies and I were in Las Vegas and won a big jackpot, I was the only one that was single and had a paystub on me. So I guess I offered to give them my info for the winnings. We were all pretty wasted, so I didn't feel bad about forgetting about the tax complications.
We really had a great time and none of the guys told their wives, so I paid the $2700. Years later, we went to Vegas again, and told the guys what happened. I drank free all weekend!
Personally I don' think it's right that they charge on gambling winnings, but don't let you declare the losses too.
I heard you can declare the losses, if they don't exceed the wins, if you have evidence of the losses. So I started saving loosing lotto tickets every year, but we haven't won a jackpot since. Thank you for the very generous upvote, my first one ever. 🙏