As my critics constantly remind us, we should all feel so patriotic about sending as much of our money as possible to our rulers in DC because only they know how to spend it properly. We little people are just too stupid to spend our own money to do the most good.

IRS Horror Stories On TV

I just noticed, while reviewing today’s TV listings, that A&E will be broadcasting an hour long show called IRS Horror Stories at 11pm EDT tonight (check your local listings for your time zone).  I have not seen this show, but will be checking it out.  Here is the show’s description:

  An eye-opening probe into how the Internal Revenue Service, in its blind desire to collect taxes, has destroyed lives, ruined businesses, and damaged careers. In their first TV interviews, IRS employees describe how the agency has terrorized taxpayers, and how its managers continue to resist positive reform.  TV PG

Hopefully, this show will provide the truth to counterbalance the pervasive propaganda claiming that IRS has been so hamstrung by rules and budget problems that it is incapable of enforcing the tax laws.

Justice seeks end to slavery-tax scam – It is really hard to feel any sympathy for anyone stupid enough to fall for this long ago debunked scam.

Congress approves $2.2 trillion budget, but halves Bush cuts

Senate Vote Could Slash Bush Tax Cut in Half

Senate GOP Slashes Tax Cut

Debunking Myths

My long-time favorite site for checking on the accuracy of rumors and other so-called news is Snopes.com.  I have to keep reminding people to check there before forwarding any of the endless chain letters to everyone on their mailing list.  Most of those are complete scams and do nothing but further clutter up everyone’s email.

You can sign up for a periodic update email from Snopes to alert you to some of the newest items they have.  There were a couple of good ones in today’s update.

Fake work at home scams are among the most common spam emails.  I must receive at least a dozen each day touting the ability to make big money processing refunds for customers of FedEx and UPS.  I’ve never checked it out because it was obviously a scam; but Snopes has all of the details for anyone who is curious.

Among many other myths about how IRS selects tax returns for audit has long been the one claiming that using the pre-printed label that IRS sends you on your tax return will make it more likely to be chosen.  That has never been true.  In fact, I do usually stick those labels on the tax returns that I prepare and have never seen any correlation with IRS audits.  However, I do not use the labels if they have any errors in the pre-printed name or address.  I long ago learned that, even when I cross out and correct the erroneous info, IRS data entry personnel ignore my changes and perpetuate the errors.  The only way to force them to correct the data is to make them key in the names and addresses from a tax return without the preprinted label.

KMK

IRS Sob Story

I’m sure I sound like a broken record, but stories like this, trying to drum up sympathy for the poor understaffed IRS, irritate me to no end.  Their premise that everyone is a tax cheat is completely bogus.  As I have explained on too many occasions, the truth is the exact opposite.  More often than not, people overpay their taxes because of lousy bookkeeping and poor knowledge of tax planning strategies. 

What also fries me is the way they toss around numbers of uncollected taxes from the supposed underground economy.  Such figures are literally pulled out of thin air because an underground economy, by definition, cannot be measured with any accuracy.  Obviously, bigger numbers attract more attention, and who would have the nerve to challenge IRS on them?  I do and have challenged them directly.  A few years ago, during a similar PR campaign trying to generate support for more IRS money and power, I spent a lot of time contacting IRS personnel at their upper levels.  I was trying to track down how they calculated their figures for uncollected taxes.  They finally admitted to me that they had made the numbers up under the premise that, although they couldn’t prove the numbers were correct, neither could anyone prove they were wrong.  

I’m not as much disappointed in the IRS for twisting the facts so as to bolster its case as I am with the lazy journalists who willingly accept the IRS’s figures without double checking them with independent sources.  Perhaps, they are practicing the admitted CNN policy of intentionally slanting stories in favor of the enemy so as to avoid retribution.       

KMK

Tax sites brace for rush

TV Ads Target Companies Moving Offshore

Tech Firms Lobbying for Own Tax Cut