Dear IRS

Dear IRS is a phrase that is being used to refer to a letter to the editor written by Ed Barnett to the Wichita Falls Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas. The letter was published on February 6, 2009. In the letter, Mr. Barnett tells the IRS that he will be unable to pay his income tax on April 15 because of all the other taxes that he has already paid, many of which he then lists, followed by, "and many more that I can’t recall but I have run out of space and money." He concludes the letter by saying, "When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an honest mistake. Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen Charles Rangle, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Dashelle and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest. P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus check." The letter gained national media attention.
Barnett did in fact intend to pay his income tax - he wrote the letter as a joke.
The letter became popular across the country, reprinted by newspapers in Dallas and Florida, with requests for permission by newspapers in Arizona and Rhode Island to reprint it.
Nationally syndicated radio talk show hosts Glenn Beck and Neal Boortz have both read the letter on their shows.

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