How do you spell frustration? Easy - I.R.S.

Next month it will be three years since mom passed away of congestive heart failure. For her last three or four months, we hired a half dozen ladies to come to her home. They weren't trained...they were just ladies who could provide companion care for people who are dying to make their final days on earth a little more pleasant.

They were nice ladies. When mom was able, they would play cards with her or visit with her. When she became bedridden, they read to her or got her a glass of water or a sandwich. When mom died, they all came to her funeral.

They are in sharp contrast to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which has been just the opposite of nice.

We paid these ladies for their time and followed all applicable Montana and federal laws. But for the past three years, I've been getting the most moronic letters ever written by a government agency who is sure we screwed up somewhere.

The first letter had to do with some alleged wrongdoing on our part because we did not follow North Dakota law when it came to paying unemployment insurance.

Well, that seemed easy enough. We had used a certified public accountant in my hometown of Roundup, Montana, so I asked the CPA if he would write a letter to the IRS on my dad's behalf telling them that the services were performed in Montana and thus were not under the jurisdiction of North Dakota law.

We've never been able to figure out why the IRS thought that the care was given in North Dakota as mom never resided in North Dakota and neither did the ladies. It was only dad who moved here a month after mom passed away.

The CPA wrote a spectacular letter...and we thought the issue was settled. But in about six months we received another letter, which the CPA also answered....and the story has continued until this weekend when we got our latest letter in response to the last letter the CPA sent six months ago in 2008.

This time the IRS wants us to contact the Montana unemployment insurance office to have them write a letter regarding why companion care is not covered under Montana unemployment insurance law. There's an easy answer, BECAUSE THE LEGISLATURE SAID SO.

But that's not good enough for the IRS, so I again called the CPA, who has contacted the Montana unemployment insurance office so many times on this matter he's on a first name basis with a lady named Rose. He's now going to call Rose and ask her to write a letter on our behalf to the IRS.

You might think this would be the end of it, but you would be wrong. In six months, we'll get still another letter from the IRS and they again will be making some other stupid request and threatening a hefty fine for our stupidity and ignorance on such weighty issues.

I'm bringing this to your attention for a couple of reasons. First, because it has become a major irritation in my life. And second, because when you hear that the goverment is going to "help" in any way shape or form, you should start running the other way.

I can't believe that anyone in their right mind would ever accept the proposition of our government running anything -- least of all General Motors, Health Care, etc.

It will be a sad day when you buy a car that's a lemon and expect satisfaction from the government. If you want to see red tape, you'll see it until the end of the universe.