That's what I get for waiting so long to file.

I filed my Federal tax return for 2008 late this year. I always file as an injured spouse because my wife has an outstanding educational loan that she received and defaulted on prior to our marriage. I was due a refund. They received the return early in November and today I got a letter telling me that the Treasury Department had taken it to pay on the loan. This happens almost every year. So, I call the IRS around 8:00pm and two hours later and four IRS employees later I had an answer. the refund is pending and call back in about three weeks if I haven't gotten it. Calling the IRS is a pain. Everyone I spoke to was extremely helpful and did their best with the tools they had. Its not the employees. Its not the referrals to other employees. Its the listening to the music, some classical some who the frack knows, while waiting "in excess of fifteen minutes" for someone to get to you. And again, everyone I spoke to did their best to help me until one was finally able to. The moral? I don't know, but this year I'm filing early. Merry Christmas