A.K.A. my never-ending battle with all sorts of alphabet soup government agencies defending the economic rights of the average taxpayer.
The current headlines are filled with stories of tragedy, heroism, wins and losses, life and death struggles. That just summaries what most of us perceive will be our experience when we are forced to file our federal and state income tax returns this year. However, the cornucopia of stories about real-life struggles from the various conflicts around the world do include unimaginable suffering, starvation, and the inevitable tragic loss of life and/or limb.
A Lose-Lose Situation
That said, those who work at the IRS find themselves in a similar position as many armies. They are tasked with fighting an insurmountable, un-winnable battle just as the IRS sends its best to engage in an audit battle with the rich and powerful armed with insufficient experience, knowledge, and expertise. Let’s just say, General Custer had a better chance at winning.
We have all read or heard that America’s millionaires and billionaires pay little or no taxes. So why is that? Do they show up at their CPA’s office once a year, prepare their tax returns and just not pay? Maybe, they make up stories of phantom income and expenses. Or is it that the wealthy employ an army of highly specialized experts to thwart and manipulate, what we mere mortals cannot, the Internal Revenue Code, the Internal Revenue Manual, Rev Procs, Rev Procedures and case law in a premeditated and well planned and executed perpetrated scheme to find real, imagined and/or dubious loopholes.
What? I’m Supposed to Pay Taxes?
As of 2019, the top 1% of Americans were responsible for 28% of the “tax gap”— defined as the difference between taxes that are owed and collected. So, let’s translate that into real dollars—$163 BILLION annually. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalist, the ICIJ, investigations, including the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, revealed the complex maneuvers wealthy people and corporations use to evade or avoid taxes.
Help us, please!
In a moment of sanity, and the constant begging of the top echelon at the IRS, Congress approved the Inflation Reduction Act which promised $80 BILLION to the IRS to modernize and track down those tax avoiding scoundrels. Well guess what, Congress clawed back (as in reneged on their promise) approximately $20 Billion, giving us, the Joe Schmo taxpayer, the BS excuse that it is because the money will increase audits on working-class people. Yeah!! I totally agree.
Let’s pause for a moment for a reality check. What makes more sense to you, audit one person and get $1–$10 million or audit a thousand people to get a buck eighty and waste thousands of man hours?
Still on Hold
Before you start screaming at my blog and calling me nasty names, I am sympathetic with most Americans in this matter. I spend a great deal of time performing Tax Resolution Services, where I am in what seems a never-ending battle with all sorts of alphabet soup government agencies defending the economic rights of the average taxpayer. I guarantee, warranty, and imply that I spend more time on hold in a week with them then you will in a lifetime.
Gary Weiss
Gary is a graduate of the Marshall School of the University of Southern California. He founded and operates a boutique accounting firm dedicated to bringing high - quality tax preparation, tax planning and tax resolution services to individuals, small businesses, small nonprofits, family owned businesses and start-ups, at an extremely affordable price. Visit Gary Weiss CPA.