IRS mission is to collect unreported taxable income

Dear Mr. Philip Sterdt, I think you were a little hard on the IRS (Letters, "IRS a heartless bureaucracy bent only on punishment," Jan. 26).

You didn't apparently miss an IRA rollover deadline. The deadline is 60 days and you didn't roll it over in time, so you did miss it. The IRS didn't decide your IRA distribution was taxable income. It became taxable income when you failed to roll it over by the deadline.

The purpose of IRA rollovers is to change financial institutions, not to finance home purchases. Real estate deals being delayed or falling apart over bank approvals is a common occurrence. The IRS attempts to collect back taxes, interest and penalties when taxable income is not reported.

Stephen Dieter

Bradenton

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "IRS mission is to collect unreported taxable income ."