As published in the Winter Park/Maitland Observer, Thursday Jan. 3, 2012 Edition Offers... Read More »
Our Tax Dollars at Work
Fox News reports that a Florida public school administrator called the sheriff after a pair of consenting 12-year-olds shared a kiss on the playground: Lee County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Orange River Elementary School after two female students were debating over who liked a 12-year-old boy more. At that point, one of the girls walked over and …
Read Full Article Categorized in: NewsIRS Continues to Battle Tax Refund Fraud
WebCPA reports that the IRS increased the number of fraudulent tax refund claims it detected and stopped during the 2011 tax-filing season by 171 percent over the previous year: As of April 30, 2011, the IRS had identified 775,723 tax returns with $4.6 billion claimed in fraudulent refunds and prevented the issuance of $4.4 billion,…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Audits, IRS Procedure, Regulation of Tax Preparers, Tax CrimesTaxes, Competition and Pricing
If President Obama were like George Washington and could not tell a lie, this is what he would say to the American taxpayer: Yes, we are going to increase your taxes, but don’t worry. If we waste those funds, we’ll just increase your taxes again. An entity that can raise its “prices” without consequence (i.e. without the loss of “business”…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Opinion, PhilosophyWhatever Nina Wants, Nina Gets
Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know that I have a bit of a crush on National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson. For more about my infatuation with her go here. Well, because I have so much respect for her honesty, candor and willingness to chide both the IRS and Congress…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Legislative Watch, Opinion, Taxpayer AdvocateWhere Your Tax Money Goes: Ohio Toll Collector Paid $103,150
“Today, Ohio has the 7th highest state and local combined tax burden in the nation with taxes consuming 10.4 percent of the state’s income.” – Scott Hodge, Tax Policy Blog – Jim Fedako of the Mises Institute writes about what he calls the Exploitation Theory in Reverse: According to the Buckeye Institute, the highest paid Ohio Turnpike…
Read Full Article Categorized in: State TaxesTax Survey
Richard Morrison of the Tax Policy Blog has a New Podcast on Public Opinion Polls and Taxes. Here’s a synopsis of it: Earlier this week I talked with American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow and polling analyst Karlyn Bowman on the Tax Policy Podcast about her recent study on the history of public opinion on tax issues.…
Read Full Article Categorized in: News, OpinionIRS Allows $151 Million of Erroneous Deductions to Cadavers, Convicts and Kids
In my previous post we talked about the absurdity of giving more taxpayer money to government entities like the IRS who have a history of wasting the money taxpayers have already given it. Yesterday, right on cue, I received a report from The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration titled Millions of Dollars in Questionable Qualified Motor Vehicle…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Deductible Expenses, IRS ProcedureIRS Asks for More Money to Go After Tax Cheats
The Wall Street Journal reports that, The head of the Internal Revenue Service told lawmakers Wednesday that the stringent House budget proposal would ultimately widen the federal budget deficit by reducing the tax agency’s ability to collect revenue. “Cuts such as those in the House budget resolution would actually increase the deficit by decreasing revenue,” IRS…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Legislative WatchGovernment Inefficiency Part Zillion: Tax Dollars Given to Contractors who are Delinquent in Taxes
Joseph Henchman of Tax Policy Blog writes in Stimulus Package Contractors & Grant Recipients Owe $757M in Unpaid Taxes: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified $757 million in known unpaid taxes from that at least 3,700 of the estimated 80,000 contractors and grant recipients who received funds from the Recovery Act stimulus bill enacted on…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Legislative Watch, NewsAnd the IRS Wants More Money?
So you want to give the government more of your money, do you? The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Targeted Compliance Efforts May Reduce the Number of Inaccurate Information Returns Submitted by Government Entities (2011-30-019): The hundreds of thousands of information returns with inaccurate names and taxpayer identification numbers that are submitted annually by government entities create opportunities…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Opinion, Tax PolicyTIGTA: IRS Issues More Erroneous Tax Refunds
For the love of common sense and decency can we please stop the waste and fraud before we demand that law-abiding citizens pay more taxes? From Paul Caron, here’s the latest depressing news from TIGTA about how the IRS isn’t doing its job: The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Individuals Received Millions of Dollars in…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Credits, News, Tax Crimes15% of Government Contractors Don’t Comply with the Tax Laws
According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration 15% of government contractors are not in compliance with the federal tax laws. Federal Guidelines Do Not Prohibit the Awarding of Contracts to Contractors With Delinquent Tax Liabilities (2010-30-120): The IRS does not annually verify that government contractors have paid Federal taxes, despite a presidential directive that…
Read Full Article Categorized in: NewsIRS Will Audit More Tax Returns in 2011
The Associated Press reports that the IRS is intensifying and expanding its tax return audit program: The IRS is making it a bit riskier to cheat on your taxes. The tax agency increased the number of returns it audited by nearly 11 percent this year, statistics released Wednesday show. Wealthy taxpayers and big businesses were most likely to…
Read Full Article Categorized in: NewsPrisoner Tax Fraud Update
Paul Caron reports that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Significant Problems Still Exist With IRS Efforts to Identify Prisoner Tax Refund Fraud (2011-40-009): The IRS has not shared prisoner tax return information with Federal and State prison officials to help combat tax fraud by inmates. … The Inmate Tax Fraud Prevention Act of 2008,…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Tax CrimesDo You Still think Government Deserves More of Your Money?
Paul Caron reports that in 2010 the IRS paid out $130,000,000 in refunds to 50,000 prisoners: The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Expanded Access to Wage and Withholding Information Can Improve Identification of Fraudulent Tax Returns (2010-40-129): TIGTA’s analysis found that the majority of tax returns the IRS identifies as being filed by prisoners are not…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Tax Policy