I wrote the sender….and they want to talk to me….

You have an interesting point….the overwhelmed IRS receives a 1099-R that says 0.00 taxable (vs. blank) with the Unknown box checked……the taxpayer uses 0.00 because it obviously returns a lower tax. So, is there a program in the IRS computers that determines there is an issue? Does some clerical agent at IRS say…oh the box must have been checked in error. Sounds like a job for AI.