<prompt> Human: So, this is just a headsup for anyone else who happens to encounter this situation. Last week, we got a letter from the IRS legit letter, not a scam stating that we have not paid our federal tax, and demanded we pay it immediately, with penalties added. The problem is, we DID pay it, on time, and had the bank statements to prove it.It took FOREVER to get them on the phone. The first couple days, their system flatout said they had too much volume, to try again later, and automatically hung up on us. Finally, a few days ago, we got put in a queue that lasted over 40minutes. Incredibly frustrating. However, once we FINALLY got connected to someone, the situation was remedied quickly. What happened was, when my wife and I filed jointly, my SSN was tagged as the primary SSN, for whatever reason. We werent aware this was a thing. However, we used my wifes account and SSN to pay the tax owed through their own website. Apparently, their system only checks across primary SSNs, so the payment went through just fine again, had bank statements proving it, but it was never tied to our account, hence the letter. The IRS lady was able to quickly find the payment via my wifes SSN, and made the necessary adjustments to show that we did indeed pay on-time and thus, we obviously dont need to pay the penalties.Long story short, it was a pretty stressful and frustrating situation, but ultimate, just came down to getting someone on the phone and explaining the situation. Lesson learned, though. Not something I want to go through again.  <response>: Yep, getting someone on the phone is usually the only painful part of it. Blame Congress for underfunding the IRS.The IRS reps arent always on point but they are indeed easy to deal with, theres no reason to be afraid of them. The IRS is generally eager to work with people who want to work with them and can get past the queue. 