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My background is of a former elected DA now semi-retired.
Several years ago I was involved in a case where a man who came to our town-already in his 60's and on felony probation for misapplication of Fiduciary funds and later in jail 4 months for perjury would brag whenever someone would tell him "you're breaking the law" his reply "Are we talking about xxx(insert his last name)'s law? In a way his brashness was amusing. He said under oath he did not file taxes yet through dummy corporations owns two waterfront homes and plenty of land just in this county. He has no occupation.
Complaints were filed with IRS - they require a form sent to Fresno- yet they have no live people to talk with or to follow up.
I just wonder if the IRS only picks a hand full of high profile cases to do each year just to set an example. I wonder how many people DON'T file taxes. I wonder how easy it is to just file dummy corporations. I do know many prosecutors balk at complicated cases because there are so many easy ones.
I'm easy to locate and maybe the IRS will get upset at me for printing this but its just a legitimate question. Every year starting about now I have to buy a tax program and struggle through tax forms which I just HATE, but wonder if there are people who have figured out the system.
The IRS has no teeth, and doesn't scare anybody who understands how they work. Tax evasion is the simplest process in the world. An ordinary citizen's chances of being audited are about the same as being hit by a falling piano.
[quote=jtur88;12397533]The IRS has no teeth, and doesn't scare anybody who understands how they work. Tax evasion is the simplest process in the world. An ordinary citizen's chances of being audited are about the same as being hit by a falling piano.[/quote
Do not be so sure!!!!! IRS have AUDITED two acquaintances of mine, and it has taken the shirts off their backs................and today they are wiser and
Once they catch you you are marked for life. You never want to mess withe the federal government. just look at the switzer record in new york as a example of what can happen,. he only prosecuted one case and loss but he had numerous really smart people agree to plea. Why because they were going up aginst the state and pressure applied. Being a former DA he has to know what pressures does in a plea. Look at DWI and you have to wander is their any punishment except if they kill someone finalkly. Same thing with IRS;they will deal especailly as that gaurntees moeny and less resources. i am surprised that a former DA is surprised.
I just noticed the response. My guess Texdav is they pick and choose who they want to go after. This guy claimed he was friends with Bush and spreads lots of money around. I still haven't heard back from the IRS and its been a couple of years since the first complaint - nor have the others.
I just noticed the response. My guess Texdav is they pick and choose who they want to go after. This guy claimed he was friends with Bush and spreads lots of money around. I still haven't heard back from the IRS and its been a couple of years since the first complaint - nor have the others.
My Uncle was hit, after not filing taxes for 3 years. However, my step father didn't file taxes for the last 12 years he lived with my mother.
I don't know how they pick whom they zero in on, but it should probably be fixed.
BTW, my uncle got money back, after filing his old returns. My step father probably got away with 60,000 or more. (He isn't with my mother anymore, so I don't know what his current situation is)
My background is of a former elected DA now semi-retired.
Several years ago I was involved in a case where a man who came to our town-already in his 60's and on felony probation for misapplication of Fiduciary funds and later in jail 4 months for perjury would brag whenever someone would tell him "you're breaking the law" his reply "Are we talking about xxx(insert his last name)'s law? In a way his brashness was amusing. He said under oath he did not file taxes yet through dummy corporations owns two waterfront homes and plenty of land just in this county. He has no occupation.
Complaints were filed with IRS - they require a form sent to Fresno- yet they have no live people to talk with or to follow up.
I just wonder if the IRS only picks a hand full of high profile cases to do each year just to set an example. I wonder how many people DON'T file taxes. I wonder how easy it is to just file dummy corporations. I do know many prosecutors balk at complicated cases because there are so many easy ones.
I'm easy to locate and maybe the IRS will get upset at me for printing this but its just a legitimate question. Every year starting about now I have to buy a tax program and struggle through tax forms which I just HATE, but wonder if there are people who have figured out the system.
1. They're understaffed, so it's not a surprise that no one followed up on the call to Fresno. I don't agree with or approve of their not following up, but I know the case load, so I'm not surprised.
2. Nonfilers are usually caught by their payors filing 1099s. That can be and is automated-- the IRS' computers look for a payee's return to match the 1099. There's several other automated systems they have to match up discrepancies and catch non-filers. More people are being caught by people turning them in for reward money.
3. The IRS still has one of the highest voluntary compliance tax reporting rates of any major industrialized country-- it's traditionally been the highest, and may still be so. They get that voluntary compliance through a mix of selective audits and a LOT of media coverage during tax season-- and it doesn't hurt that there's all those tax preparers and programs competing for our eyeballs and attention as well.
4. I'm suspicious about just how much truth there was in what this guy was saying. The "dummy corporation" thing especially doesn't ring true-- if he's money laundering, then taxes are just the beginning of his problems. Also, the "I'm friends with Bush" thing sounds like someone bragging. In fact the whole thing sounds like bragging. It's not that people don't evade taxes, but not filing them may be the dumbest way to do it. If he's that rich, he's an idiot not to lawyer up and hire good accountants, none of which would advise him to not file. Not filing doesn't render you invisible-- only liable for even more money than you'd be liable for in the first place. Every tax professional I know (and I work in the tax business, though not for the IRS, so these are my colleagues) with a client unable or unwilling to pay taxes has them file full and honest returns, but not send in any money. The best way to not pay taxes you know you owe is to file returns like that, then stretch out the process of working with the taxing authority until a Chapter 7 bankruptcy will wipe out the debt (three years in most cases). Of course, the IRS knows this too.
5. The other reason for not filing is that, once the IRS catches you, their enforcement mechanisms are unsurpassed. As a Texas attorney, you may know how difficult it is to get a garnishment order against the typical judgment debtor there. The IRS, of course, can do it quickly, quietly, and one day you go to your ATM and your account is empty. It's their way of getting your attention.
I used to be an owner/operator. The first time I got called in for an audit was in 1975(?not sure). I showed up at their office at 9 A.M. and everything was almost finished at 11:45 and the auditor had said everything looked good. At about 11:50 the auditor asked me if I wanted to go to lunch and be back at 1:00 in the afternoon. I said sure that sounds good to me. Where is a good place to eat close by? He pulls out a very small brown paper bag and says I don't know I always bring my lunch. I thought I was in deep sh** then because I had taken around $20.00 per/diem off for meals and the maximum meal allowance then was $15.00 without receipts. When I did my taxes I had just taken a W.A.G. on meals rather than going through over a thousand receipts and adding them up. I just knew an auditor that eats ONE Peanut Butter sandwich for lunch was never going to believe $20 a day for meals!
After lunch we started going through all the motel receipts and meal tickets. The I.R.S. auditor could almost burn up a 10 key adding machine he was so fast. In less than a half hour he had totaled all of my meal tickets and motel receipts. I almost dirtied my drawers when he said" I think we have a discrepancy here". I could see the judge slamming his gavel and saying"hard labor for ninety years". When the auditor told me that I had miscalculated on the low side and I had actually spent more than I had claimed I almost passed out. I was so relieved I went to the local pub and bought a round for the house.
A national sales tax, to the elimination of the income and estate taxes would take care of the problem. IMO.
Without knowing the intricacies of law, it sounds like a viable solution.
However, an excise tax, by definition, is only levied upon a government granted privilege - not a right.
In the case of a state sales tax, the privilege is the licensed business, and it is the real taxpayer. Most states allow the business to directly pass the cost to the customer, allowing it to keep its retail price lower. But technically, the sales tax is NOT on the customer, and you may object and not pay it without penalty.
The question is - what constitutional clause extends the federal government's authority into retail transactions of non-privileged parties?
Is it the worthless Federal Reserve note?
Is it national socialism (via voluntary enrollment)?
Or is it something else?
The other problem with a national retail sales tax is that proponents do not realize that once income tax is eradicated, there will be a massive price deflation - which will impact the estimated revenues from a national retail sales tax.
Based on the current estimate of 31% taken by the Federal government, the national retail sales tax would probably be on the order of 45% to 50% to maintain the same budget. A 50% sales tax collects the same amount of revenue as a 33% income tax. But "the people" will be more annoyed.
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