Thanks to Dana Katherine Kressierer for steering me to the IRS Web site. There was a page so wonderful that I had to save it for posterity. Note the "average response time."

Never before has the relationship between "death" and "taxes" been elucidated so clearly.

(Sent via their e-mail feedback form.)

Your home page said that the average response time was 1332453.2 days, which by my calculations would be somewhere around June 5646.

Was this a mistake?

Curious,
John Hargrave

P.S. If I don't hear back, I'll assume it wasn't.

Subj: IRS Response
Date: 96-06-19 12:17:57 EDT
From: htpadmin@ares.fedworld.gov (For Netscape Com Serv.)
To: bakedham@aol.com

The IRS has adopted the practice of responding to the facts and circumstances presented in e-mail questions without addressing individual situations. We are concerned about the confidentiality of your personal tax information and believe this is the best practice for now. We hope that advances in internet communications security will enable us to respond to questions more directly in the future.

yes it is an error.

The IRS's new homepage on the World Wide Web went on-line in January. To access IRS information available on-demand, 24 hours a day, point your browser to our web site at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov. Even the most novice internet user will find our homepage easy to navigate. Written in a simple, user-friendly format, the web site offers a variety of information and services for both individual and business taxpayers.

This message was answered by irsnash4. CAT17