‘I won’t let the government walk all over me’: The IRS says I owe $14,000 for not declaring my Social Security. What now?

“I have been sitting here waiting, worrying and wondering how they can do this to older widowed women.” (Photo subject is a model.) - Getty Images/iStockphoto Dear Quentin, I have been a widow for over six years. What is upsetting is how the government wants such a huge amount at tax time. This year’s taxes are even worse. I received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service telling me that I owed them $13,838. They accused me of not reporting what I had received from Social Security. I jumped through ...