The IRS did not keep adequate records or receipts for the conferences, and nearly $200,000 in spending is unaccounted for.
That is so funny that it isin’t!
Try to use THAT excuse on your next tax returns.
What's the penalty?
Whoever "approved" those expenses should suffer the exact penalty a regular citizen faces.
No excuses.
No extensions.
No mercy.
In the words of that great statesman, Diane Feinswine...
IT'S THE LAW!! DEAL WITH IT!!!
That line in the story jumped out at me too, and I was just about to call attention to it, but you had already done so.
It is like the “Cupid Shuffle Dance Video.” In a news report one woman on the street shown the video and asked for her reaction, said she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
slush funds
a piece of the action
Here’s the thing....what they use for general purchases is the GPC card (Government Visa Card). There is an appointed person, and a AO (approving official).
Someone says they need $8,000 of decorations for the stage...the GPC card guy buys it, and has a receipt at the end. You need to keep the receipt and file it in the monthly folder. At the end of the period, the AO will go over the folder and look for issues. Then the folder is closed. What you can typically expect is an audit every two years, and someone opens the folders to view everything.
In this case, the AO failed miserably. The card guy just plain wasn’t going to worry about an audit. There’s some highly illegal acts, which will get you into a federal courtroom. The GPC card folks force you into training before you get the card and warn you of dire consequences if you don’t go by the rules.
In this case...I’d probably roll into the IRS with a one-hundred percent audit, and start shutting down the cards completely if people have shown complete fault.
Finally, I will say this...having been around the gov’t for thirty-odd years. There are people who absolutely should not handle or be given a GPC card. I’ve met these people and they were terrible at purchasing, at keeping records, and at handling any audit. I’ve seen a few who kept great records, monitored everything absolutely by the rules, and could pass a thousand audits. The IRS folks must have some pitiful folks who handle the cards, and I’d be fairly worried about things if I were a big-league manager at IRS.