A taxpayer undergoing an audit at an Internal Revenue Service office on Long Island successfully sued the IRS for $862,000 after he was injured by tripping over a phone cord. The taxpayer claimed in his lawsuit that he could not enjoy activities from golf to sex after he fell during a 2008 audit at an IRS office in Hauppauge, N.Y., according to the New York Post. He had visited the offices to work out a payment agreement for a $60,000 tax bill when he tripped on the phone cord. He then spent 17 days in hospitals and rehabilitation centers recovering from his injury. Attorneys for the IRS claimed he was exaggerating his injury, but the judge awarded him $862,000 for pain and suffering. He won’t have to pay taxes on the damages either.

The moral of this story – Don’t let an IRS agent come to your office. If the agent comes to your office, then you will not only end up paying your tax bill, but damages to the agent who falls in your office on a pile of your tax records stacked on your floor!

Read the judge’s decision at http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nyedce/2:2010cv03888/308197/57/0.pdf?1388754242