IRS Agents Not Paying Their Taxes

[red states rule]

GAO Report: Tax Non-Compliance on the Rise Among IRS Workers!

Washington (Oct. 15, 2004) - New data suggesting that income tax noncompliance is on the rise among the Internal Revenue Service's own employees is causing some hand-wringing among members of an IRS task force formed to address the problem.

A report from that task force outlining plans to "more effectively educate [IRS] employees about their responsibilities to comply with the federal tax law" is expected next month.

Behind the agency's planned civics lesson for tax service personnel: a disturbing increase in the number of IRS employees who either don't pay their taxes, don't file returns, or commit other tax law violations.

Although Section 1203 of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 requires that IRS personnel be fired for failing to file a tax return, the number of tax service employees accused of "noncompliance with tax filing and reporting laws steadily increased almost every year since" that law was enacted, investigators from the Government Accountability Office said in a recent report to Congress.

Since July 1998, nearly 3,000 investigations into alleged tax noncompliance by IRS employees have been completed, and charges were substantiated against 667 individuals, the GAO said. Despite the Section 1203 penalties, only 126 of these tax service employees were fired because of their violations, according to the investigators. Almost half (44.2 percent) were allowed to remain on the job due to "penalty mitigation," and the rest either resigned, retired or left the agency for other reasons.

Top tax service officials may be reluctant to discharge employees for non-filing and other tax related violations for fear of discouraging field personnel from taking aggressive enforcement actions against taxpayers.

Despite evidence that noncompliance among their own employees is becoming a more serious problem, IRS officials have stated "that they still believe that Section 1203 can have a chilling effect on enforcement," the GAO said.

Over the next few weeks, the IRS plans to conduct a new survey of agency enforcement employees to determine whether the threat of Section 1203 sanctions has affected their willingness to undertake tax enforcement actions. That survey, which will focus on IRS personnel who contact small business and self-employed taxpayers about their tax compliance, is expected to be completed before the end of this year, the GAO told Congress.

http://www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=7812



What is wrong with this picture?

 

[Diuretic]

Just a question. How do you pay your taxes? Is there a withholding from the pay cheque or do you have to pay them all at once?

 

[actsnoblemartin]

thats a good question. I wonder the same thing.

 

[red states rule]

Just a question. How do you pay your taxes? Is there a withholding from the pay cheque or do you have to pay them all at once?

Like most folks they probably fill out a W-4 and have some withholding - but if they do not have enough withheld they owe

That is why you see a rush at the Post Office every April 15

 

[Diuretic]

Ah I see, thanks for that, I wondered how it went. I don't suppose anyone's interested but here if we earn a salary/wage our employer withholds an amount and it's sent to the ATO (think IRS). We have to submit a tax return (our financial year is 1/7-30/6) and claim whatever we're entitled to in deducations from our tax already paid. We may get some money back or we may even find ourselves paying more (we have to declare all income besides that which we have already paid through our employer).

Does that makes sense?

 

[red states rule]

Ah I see, thanks for that, I wondered how it went. I don't suppose anyone's interested but here if we earn a salary/wage our employer withholds an amount and it's sent to the ATO (think IRS). We have to submit a tax return (our financial year is 1/7-30/6) and claim whatever we're entitled to in deducations from our tax already paid. We may get some money back or we may even find ourselves paying more (we have to declare all income besides that which we have already paid through our employer).

Does that makes sense?

Tey may have income other then their paycheck. Investments and interest income come to mind

The point is, the people who watch us to make sure we fork over our money - are not "paying their fair sahre"

 

[Diuretic]

Tey may have income other then their paycheck. Investments and interest income come to mind

The point is, the people who watch us to make sure we fork over our money - are not "paying their fair sahre"

And that's a fair call.

 

[red states rule]

And that's a fair call.

Go to a flat tax, scrap the current tax code, and get rid of about 95% of the IRS

 

[Diuretic]

In my country the tax law is so large that the legislative handbooks that are used are so big that a tax lawyer in court, for example, has to roll them in on a trolley. But no-one has the gumption to revise the tax law. I have to say that - this is my opinion of it only and I'm not a lawyer - it seems to me that it is broken but because our federal govt (doesn't matter which party, they all benefit from it) gets a LOT of money from us and not just from simple income tax.

Our current government, which is supposed to be a "conservative" government, is the highest-taxing government we've had since the states of Australia ceded their income taxation powers (it was done in WWII as a - wait for it - temporary measure to aid the war effort, temporary my arse). No govt repeals a tax here.

 

[red states rule]

In my country the tax law is so large that the legislative handbooks that are used are so big that a tax lawyer in court, for example, has to roll them in on a trolley. But no-one has the gumption to revise the tax law. I have to say that - this is my opinion of it only and I'm not a lawyer - it seems to me that it is broken but because our federal govt (doesn't matter which party, they all benefit from it) gets a LOT of money from us and not just from simple income tax.

Our current government, which is supposed to be a "conservative" government, is the highest-taxing government we've had since the states of Australia ceded their income taxation powers (it was done in WWII as a - wait for it - temporary measure to aid the war effort, temporary my arse). No govt repeals a tax here.

Libs here want MORE taxes - great way to screw up our greowing economy

 

[Diuretic]

Libs here want MORE taxes - great way to screw up our greowing economy

I think I manage to stay out of purely US domestic issues. I might discuss taxation policy from the point of view of a taxpayer of course, but I try to avoid getting into the to and fro debates on such issues. Not my place to get into it.

But here our fed govt over the last ten years or so has watched bracket creep eat away at our tax while not shifting the payment brackets to allow for inflation-related wage rises. In some cases it's possible to get a decent wage rise and then find yourself ahead by only a couple of bucks because you get bumped into another tax bracket. Not a good motivator.

 

[red states rule]

I think I manage to stay out of purely US domestic issues. I might discuss taxation policy from the point of view of a taxpayer of course, but I try to avoid getting into the to and fro debates on such issues. Not my place to get into it.

But here our fed govt over the last ten years or so has watched bracket creep eat away at our tax while not shifting the payment brackets to allow for inflation-related wage rises. In some cases it's possible to get a decent wage rise and then find yourself ahead by only a couple of bucks because you get bumped into another tax bracket. Not a good motivator.

I started a thead where Pretty Boy Edwards has come out and said he wants more taxes

He will be gone soon