Posted on 04/30/2015 9:12:30 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
TO those of us who fear the I.R.S. and the possibility of a tax audit, it sounded like good news. In March, the I.R.S. commissioner, John A. Koskinen, told employees that because of budget cuts, the agency “had to do less with less” — reduce taxpayer services, delay refunds and do fewer audits. But alas, the outcome is not what it seems. Those who do get caught in the I.R.S.’s net may be in for a terrible time and lose some of the rights set out in last year’s new taxpayer bill of rights.
Examiners for the I.R.S. are giving taxpayers and their accountants much less time to respond to certain audit letters. There is no way to know how many audits are being done more quickly. My company represents taxpayers who are facing audits, and since last fall we have found that many of them have been hit with the speeded-up timetable. An initial request for an appointment is followed quickly — in some instances, on the same day — with a follow-up letter that states that the requested information has not been received.
Of course it hasn’t; the taxpayer just got the first letter! The second letter threatens the loss of the right to appeal within the I.R.S., forcing recipient to go into the court system to resolve the case.
The letters are in language that are mystifying for the average citizen. Here’s an example: “As of the date of this letter, we haven’t received all of the information we requested on Form 4564 ... If you don’t provide the information requested on the enclosed Form 4564 or contact me to confirm you have no additional information to provide by the response due date listed above, we will close your examination based on the information we have now.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Anyone else pulling this stunt would be doing the perp walk under RICO.
Out of Control IRS Ping.
Matter of fact, I know some bookmakers who have a more subtle approach to getting the money that actually IS theirs!! :)
From last paragraph:
Taxpayer rights will be eroded as long as Congress keeps adding duties, reducing staff and cutting funding. The I.R.S. will not solve the problem on its own. Until Congress increases the I.R.S.’s budget and improves the oversight of its allocation, taxpayers will be deprived of their rights in audits.
So, the solution is increasing the budget of the IRS?
A frantic effort to vacuum up extra revenue before... what?
Even though "only property" is all they do.
We are the peasants, they are the elite, and there ain't a damned thing anyone's gonna do about it.
It’s a bluff.
Here how it works.
If they send the statutory notice of deficiency you appeal it to the US Tax Court. That closes any other unopened issues on the return except for the specific issues they have addressed in the notice.
The IRS attorney gives it to an appeals officer to settle. The appeals officers are so over loaded with work it is impossible to get it all done. A few communications back and forth and they give in unless your case is grossly in error.
I’m a CPA and handle tax audits. I have friends who are IRS agents. I feel for them as they are between a rock and a hard place.
Cut their present budget in half!
This is the NYTimes. What’s their angle?
After submitting his 2010 1040, our son got hit with a “you owe us $700 more” letter. He took it to the local IRS office, they could not figure out why, calls to the IRS with excessive wait times proved futile and frustrating.
He hadn’t made a lot of money, was finishing grad school, and was working 2 part time jobs during the day.
So he refiled his taxes at the local IRS office’s suggestion and with their help. Turns out he received a $1200 refund (he had left out a deduction he was entitled to.)
Anywho, I wonder how many folks get the “you owe us” letter and just pay them because it’s easier than trying to figure out what was wrong, or are afraid of an audit if they protest to the extra fee.
I wonder if he was “targeted” for conservative reasons, because he did contribute to some conservative causes, but he was a 23 year old “kid” and I sort of dismissed the notion at the time, but the more I heard about the targeting, the more I thought, well maybe that was the reason.
Some ‘rights’. As they are subject to the caprices of an IRS stooge, they are meaningless.
How the Obama administration has escaped serious political fallout resulting from it’s whole hearted embrace of the IRS has long puzzled me. I suppose the vast majority of his supporters only interact with the IRS when they get their EITC money. I’m hoping the ACA subsidies fiasco changes things a bit.
Taxes have always been a sparking point in America: from the Tea Act/Boston Tea Party to the Stamp Act/Stamp Act Riots to The Townshend Acts/Boston Massacre to the 1791 Excise Whiskey Tax/Whiskey Rebellion to, arguably, the Civil War and the issue of protective tariffs.
RE: So, the solution is increasing the budget of the IRS?
The solution is like the proverbial elephant in the room — SIMPLIFY DRASTICALLY THE TAX CODE.
START WITH THE FLAT TAX, and then, SLOWLY MOVE TO A SALES TAX AND ELIMINATE INCOME TAX ENTIRELY.
RE: This is the NYTimes. What’s their angle?
As usual, the IRS ( or any government department or agency for that matter ) needs MORE MONEY.
Thanks for the Ping, TADSLOS.
We all know that there is only one way to end these abuses:
REPLACE THE INCOME TAX WITH THE FAIRTAX AND ABOLISH THE IRS!
Help us do that at http://www.fairtax.org.
This issue is about FReedom!
We will NEVER be a FRee people so long as we have and income tax and an IRS!
Educate them about the FairTax and enlist their support for it!
We FairTaxers are gonna TAKEM DOWN!
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