So...... the IRS has informed the IRS that they can improve their audits by getting more in the face of the rich and the IRS agrees.

Nice to see government fixin' itself.

This convinces me further: all lawbreaking rich scumbags need to go to the very worst of PMITA prisons.

Because most of the wealthy tax cheaters are in the House and Senate.

Nah they just have better ways of hiding it. At least we don't have the fair tax. Then the rich would truly get richer.

/or the poor would just barter more

Of course they have to overstate business expenses. Their blow dealer won't give them a receipt.

how about this: make simpler tax laws. then there aren't loop holes to exploit. no loop holes = smaller IRS cause they don't have to spend all that time and tax money investigating themselves only to learn they need to do a better job. less taxes spent on the IRS could, oh i don't know, help pay down the debt? help with Soc Sec? Medicare?

This just in to the ABC7 newsroom: Rich people run the IRS. Film at 11.

Well, it's a lot easier to browbeat the middle class by making an example out of Joe Sixpack.


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skemme

They used to be simpler. That's how people found loop holes. Hell back in the 20's you could write off the money made in stock investments.

Actually, I believe a more accurate description of this might be "The Darwinian Evolution of tax cheats" as what we are doing - regardless of real wealth status - is catching the people who are either too stupid to hide their tax revenue in such a way as to not get caught or simply were not trying to hide anything and we just too broke to pay.


In the first group - we have tons of people that work for cash whenever they can and do not declare it - with most probably getting away with it.

The second group - they're the modern day equivalent of the peasant who tried to tell the French aristocracy that they had no bread.

The reality is that the smart ones - I mean the really smart ones will continue to get away with this while we bust the stupid ones. What we really need is a way for people to pay in without all the insanity. Even better, I would like to see a system where everyone above a certain earnings level pays in a set percentage and the people who wish to can pay more. Then we would really see who the most patriotic people are.

Just listen to all you jealous, malodourous peasants. Rich people are better than you, that's all there is to it. Why do you think they became rich? Taxes are for the little people.

So..theoretically..where does one find good, "morally-flexible" Tax attorneys and CPAs? I mean..if one wanted to..

Wealthy and "over $100,000" in income seems a bit of a stretch.

Don't get me wrong, if a married couples combined income is over 100k theyre not living in a cardboard box, but as an example:

My brother and sister-in-law report over 100k - hes an electrician and shes a public school speech pathologist.

Myself (a public school teacher) and my wife, who is an RN, would report near 100k if she had been working full time instead of staying home and taking care of our infant son.

So before the "burn the rich" bandwagon really gets rolling just remember by that articles definition you're probably one of the "rich" who didnt get audited - all(I'm sure) because Bushies love the rich peeps.

Because the rich have more money, they have their money involved in more complicated scenarios. There isn't really a direct bias.

It's easy for the government to tell something is off when Joe Schmo only reports his income from his job, but he is also depositing other random checks in his account on a regular basis.

It is a lot harder for the government to see a problem when I own a business that markets to clients by taking them out to dinner, but then I write a few of my own expensive dinners off as work expenses too. Was a client there or not? Hard to say...

ddn: So..theoretically..where does one find good, "morally-flexible" Tax attorneys and CPAs? I mean..if one wanted to..

I'd suggest attending a local Republican Party fundraiser and ask who they use.

I have a problem with "high-income" being defined as $100K. When people talk about the "ultra rich", top 5%, corporate CEO, fat-cat wealthy - they are picturing a Hell of a lot more income than $100K.

/makes more than 100,000 (barely)
//has one new car and a beat up old truck
////saving money by not going out to eat tonight
//these are not the taxpayers you are looking for
//too many slashies?

Cheney Republicans nod approvingly.

go find a copy of "Perfectly Legal" and read it. You'll never be the same...

People always crack me up about taxes. My tax bill is in the upper 6 figures each year (that is what I owe) and I constantly get harassed by people that I still don't pay enough. I'm one person that has worked hard my life and made my business work and because of that people think I need to carry them on my shoulders.

My question is why is it fair that because I made something work that I even pay a dime more than someone else? I am just one person, same as Joe Blow down the street. Heck, I'd support a flat tax of 15% across the board even.

It's always those that pay little to no taxes that complain about some "rich guy" that gets some breaks. feh

And yet they can screw up and try to tax me a second time on my employee stock options that were already taxed before I got a single cent of the money.

/got a letter saying I owed another 10k for my 2004 taxes

/called in and said "hey, those were options that were already taxed"

/lady on the phone said "oops, it's obvious looking at this that that's what they were, I'll have it corrected and you'll get a letter"

/so, was it some computer that sent me the letter, or did someone screw up something that was "obvious"?

Wow...that was a meandering and pointless article but the reporter did manage to fit "high-income" in there eight times. I think old Mary is a bit miffed that no one will pay her much for her little bits of writing wisdom and it must be the evil rich people's fault.

skemme: how about this: make simpler tax laws. then there aren't loop holes to exploit. no loop holes = smaller IRS...

What specifically are one of these "loop holes"?

Required Reading:

It's called a flat tax. Saves everyone time and money.

Change the entire bloated federal tax system to a national sales tax. It's been estimated that this would save taxpayers at least several hundred billion dollars per year in saved time and CPA fees, plus much of the IRS could be axed and the government would also save money, and businesses would have a much easier time tracking how much they have to pay in taxes and save money too.

Plus, food staples would be left tax-free, so the really poor would pay virtually no taxes.

So it is harder to catch a cheat who uses a 1040 form with 10,000 lines than Joe Schmo who has zero deductions?

the progressive tax system is a mockery of justice.

flat tax, end of problem