Despite Senator's help, IRS still considers Minnesota man dead

MINNETONKA, Minn. (KMSP) - Although nearly a year has passed since U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar pledged to step in and help Adam Ronning sort out a situation that left him legally dead in the eyes of the IRS for nearly 30 years, he still has yet to be resurrected. 

The 33-year-old, like many other Minnesotans, has taxes withheld from his biweekly paychecks as a panel technician--though without the proper documentation proving he's alive, however, he can't file for his returns.

“I’m just kind of at my wits end at this point,” Adam confessed Tuesday evening at his dining room table. “It’s kind of like beating your head against the wall."

Ronning thought the entire headache was over Monday when he submitted his W-2s, only to learn that by Uncle Sam’s standards he’s still a dead man walking. He was especially mad because just last May, Klobuchar and the Ronning family were told by an IRS advocate that the case was rectified.

Both flummoxed parties circled back to the IRS for answers to how Ronning, despite being very much alive, took his last breath in the eyes of the IRS when he was only four years old.

“They didn’t send a reason to me or my mother,” he said.

Even in light of the trouble, Adam remains a hard-working “dead” man. The self-proclaimed devout tax-payer says he's paid both his state and federal taxes for more than 16 years. Despite his loyalty, since 2009 Adam has only seen partial tax returns at best--or not a single penny at worst.

“I’m sure if I owed them, they would charge me interest,” Adam said. 

The busy father of now three small children has tried to prove he’s still alive through phone calls, letters and visits to the Social Security Administration at the IRS’ request.

The false declaration hasn’t come cheap either. By Adam’s estimate, the IRS now owes him at least $27,000 in back tax refunds. 

“If they would like me to prick my blood and check my DNA or scan my driver’s license or whatever other hoop that I need to jump through to make sure they got this straightened out, I’m willing to do it," he said. “Last thing I heard from [Sen. Klobuchar] is ‘everything is resolved.'"

Apparently, it’s the last thing her office heard, too.

In a statement to FOX 9, Sen. Klobuchar’s State Director Ben Hill wrote, “While we are glad to have helped resolve the previous issues, it is outrageous that Adam continues to have problems filing his tax returns. We will not rest until Adam gets every penny he deserves.”

The last letter Adam received from a tax advocate informed both the family and Sen. Klobuchar that the IRS wouldn’t confirm if his “deceased” status was wiped from their records.

The IRS declined to comment on Adam’s case when asked Tuesday, citing legal and privacy reasons. 

“We thought we had come to the end of the rainbow, at last," Ronning said. "We haven’t."

Meanwhile, Hill says Senator Klobuchar hopes to get a clear answer about Adam’s case within the next two days and get this resolved once and for all.