Daily Agitator
I have bitch extensively about the economy and that the people are getting the short end of the shaft….but I was awake (as usual) at 0300 hrs and saw an ad for a tax problem agency and it got me to thinking about the whole tax relief thing…..
Let me ask my reader….do you pay your taxes on a regular basis? Do you feel that you get a fair shake from the IRS?
Most Americans pay their debt to society through their taxes and yet some do not….the ad I am speaking of is from a firm that specializes in help tax evaders…..yes, I said tax evaders!
These people owe the IRS a large sum of money in taxes, they drag their feet in payment and wait for a deal to be offered that will let them pay a much smaller amount than what they owe…..the firm I am writing about says in their ad that they have saved tax payers $100 million so far….that is a $100 million that was owed to the country and they did not have to pay….can you say that?
My point is…because they are wealthy does not mean that they should be allowed to NOT pay their fair share…we have to pay….everyone should have to pay…..I mean the wealthy already have many many deductions that we normal people cannot use….then why do they get a free ride?
The Tea Party Groups are pissed off about taxes going up…..where is their rage against the tax evaders in their midst? Oh my bad….they are wealthy also….then who stands with the “little” people on the tax thing?
People stop letting all this pass without a challenge! If the one firm has saved the evaders $100 million then how much has the others saved? Do you realize what all that money could fund with one simple law? Maybe the deficit would not look so bad if we were getting all the tax revenue that is OWED…….
There will always be people who want to bend the system. What simple law could stop it?
I think the rules are too complex, making it possible for people to manipualte the rules.
A greatly simplified system would have no loopholes, or gaps to be exploited.
I think it is time for a complete change to the taxation rules.
It is immoral to exploit the rules to evade tax.
Pub thanx for the comment…..good points….I have been saying for years that a simpler tx code was needed…..everybody and I do mean everybody pays 10%…no deductions…no loopholes and no dodging….
I agree absolutely. The fact is that the rules are so complex because they attempt to cover every scenario and all events with legislation. Whereas, if you make a simple law and then apply it with common sense (you remember Common Sense – he died about fifty years ago!) there would, as you say, be no loopholes to exploit!
The only place I have some reservation is that I don’t think this is the problem with tax legislation, I think it’s the problem with ALL legislation!
They’ll never countenance change, though – if they did, we would only need part-time politicians and about a third of the bureucrats we currently have.
A good post. Personally speaking, I have a slightly different take on it that i think is even fairer – NOBODY pays any bloody taxes at all! And the government (IRS??) has to asked please nicely, could we have some money to do x or y?
Wouldn’t THAT change the world of ordinary people? 😆
I do not mind paying taxes, but I think that if we must then everybody pitches in…..
I agree in principle. But why should we have to pay for what we don’t want? Come to that, why should we all have to pay for what even the MAJORITY don’t want? Like wars and stuff, for instance?
Wow, a really radical suggestion, but people are too selfish. Most would not pay for things that they personally did not benefit from.
Plus part of the problem with government is a constant need to think about re-election rather than management of the country. Trying to ‘sell’ every activity would make it unmanagable.
Taxes are fair, but only if EVERYONE pays.
Thanx for the visit John…..and I agree with the tax statement…please visit as often as you can…I appreciate the exchange of ideas…..
Those firms that offer relief, settlements, pennies on the dollars, etc. are all referring to the one and only program that the IRS has for accepting an amount less than what is legally due. It’s called Offer in Compromise, and it’s designed for Taxpayers to do themselves, although few realize this.
The Offer program is based on a person’s financial situation, and is only granted to those who have demonstrated, through a very detailed analysis of their household expenses and assets, that they cannot afford to pay in full over time.
In that case, it’s in the best interests of the IRS and the taxpayer to settle.
People do drag their feet in payment, but it’s never to their advantage. It’s highly unlikely that any “wealthy” person would be allowed to compromise their debt, not unless they can demonstrate they don’t owe some of it.
Hope this helps…
But the ad says “pay less than you owe”…..
Oh and the tax authorities never do “deals” for fixed (less – much less – than otherwise owing) amounts with wealthy people then?
In that case I must be the tooth fairy!
If I owe $1000 to the IRS and cannot pay they will either work a payment out or they take what I have…..the wealthy do not have this problem as much as the rest of us….and these companies charge a fee….nothing is done for nothing….
Of course.
I personally work in a branch of the Service that, among other things, analyzes a person’s eligibility for the Offer program.
You can file one under Doubt as to Collectability, meaning you have demonstrated that financially, you cannot pay in full. With rare exceptions, no, a “wealthy” person will not qualify for this.
You can also file it under Doubt as to Liability, which, as I mentioned above, means that a taxpayer can demonstrate they do not owe some of the balance.
In both of those cases, you do “pay less than you owe.”
Yes, companies charge aroud a $1K to prepare an Offer. It amazes me that taxpayers don’t just do it themselves.
Most people who owe large amounts, actually, are not wealthy. They are middle income folks that have recurring balances, don’t address them, ignore, put off, etc., and then with the interest and penalties the balance has become unmanageable.
I have a few articles under my blog that discuss this.
Taxman thanx for your input in this matter……I will admit that it is not my strongest suit…but beyond that I think that a “normal” individual just doesw not understand the tax code…..crap not many pros understand it completely…..if indeed we can do it ourselves then that is something that needs to get out there more….I will be visiting your blog and check it out…thanx for the participation and look forward to hearing from you again…..
I can appreciate the good intentions you pesonally have, but really… “File under this”, “claim for that”, “fill in form so and so”. It’s PEOPLE we’re talking about here – mostly decent and basically honest people with lives to lead – not nerds who need to GET a life, or wealthy assholes who pay other nerds to do it for them!
Unlike tax people (who are mostly a breed apart) normal folks generally absolutely LOATHE goddamn forms of all sorts and for all purposes. That’s mainly because the questions are either totally stupid in most people’s estimation, so badly framed that they are completely unitelligible to the uninitiated, or they are simply there to catch out unwary individuals who haven’t spotted the hidden trick purpose (insurance claim forms are a PERFECT example).
The tax offices world-wide treat people as if they are deceitful cheats and criminals – that is the impression they create whether they really think like that or not. However, the fact is that in the UK (and I suspect the US too) FAR MORE PEOPLE PAY TOO MUCH RATHER THAN TOO LITTLE – so why the distrustful attitude? In general, it’s only the wealthy who can even AFFORD to cheat!
Why SHOULD people have to learn IRS rules? Why shouldn’t the IRS (and HMRC) be forced to learn to be “normal” instead and deal with people as people, not bloody numbers?
Taxation may be a necessary evil, but it is to all intents and purposes “demanding money with menaces”. It’s basically immoral. If it were not government sponsored, it would be illegal! This is particularly so since most of us don’t agree with the way those taxes are spent after the money has been stolen from us.
I think the answer is ….Lawyers…that is why NO one can understand the code…..
Thank you!
No prob….thank you
William Burroughs, the real master of metaphor for our contemporary scene, once said that money was shit and that therefore the machine that produces it is a shit machine. People feed the machine and it shits out money, then they buy stuff with the money which in turn fuels the machine so it can shit out more money. But the machine also has to keep itself oiled to keep going—and it lubricates its gears with youth, creativity, humanity, everything decent. And, he pointed out, this monstrous process is accelerating, so eventually the machine will run out of things to eat, and run out of shit. “Money will eliminate itself,” he concludes. Case closed. We may be witnessing that last cancerous, self-cannibalizing phase right now. We’re running out of shit.
TOG