This is the FaitTax Blogburst for April 12. You know what’s coming. Most of y’all have already paid your Danegeld*, and those of you who have yet to do so are likely nearing the hair-pulling stage. I used to shave my beard on April 15th in acknowledgement of this “National Day of Mourning (Weeping and Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth)”. No longer. I’m simply fed up, now.
Here’s the blogburst text from The Right Track Blog and Publius Rendezvous
By the time the FairTax Blogburst appears next week, millions of Americans will have succumbed to the Internal Revenue Service, dutifully filing taxes on their income by Monday, April 17 at midnight local time. Some will owe the IRS and might not have the money to pay. Others may get a refund, which means that the government used that money for a period of time and did not pay you interest. (Incidentally, if you do owe taxes over a certain amount, the government will not only fine you for having not paid your taxes on a quarterly basis during the year, but will also charge you interest on your money that you kept from them!)
Since this is the time of year where the IRS and the citizens of this nation are most at odds (not that the IRS is ever really “popular”), we thought we’d spend this weeks post highlighting a couple of the abuses mentioned in the Boortz/Linder tome, “The FairTax Book”.
- An AP story on March 22, 1985 was headlined “IRS Tries to Penalize Chemical Company $46,000 for Being a Dime Short”. The story detailed how Rohm & Haas of Philadelphia (they own the Morton Salt brand) sent in a check for payroll taxes in the amount of $4,448,112.88 (that’s almost 4.5 million dollars!). The only problem was that Rohm & Haas actually owed $4,448,112.98. The IRS informed the company that the penalty for failure to pay that dime would be $46,806.37. The company got out of paying that penalty to the IRS, but you have to wonder how much they spent on legal fees trying to do so.
- In the mid-1980s, author and radio personality Neal Boortz was informed by his accountant that he owed $50,000 with the filing of his taxes, $50,000 that he didn’t have. He dutifully filed on time, immediately contacted the IRS, and made arrangements to pay his taxes over the course of the next year. Some time later he received a windfall which allowed him to settle immediately. Contacting the IRS, he was informed that the agent who had brokered his year-long deal had been transferred, and was subjected to what can only be described as the IRS’s version of the Spanish Inquisition, complete with its own female Torquemada. Backing Boortz into a corner of her own design, she managed to file a lien on his office building even though he was attempting to pay his taxes in full before the lien was filed. FYI, if you ever meet an IRS agent, formerly of Atlanta, by the name of Sandra, watch your wallet or purse, this girl’s a go-getter.
There are many more stories of IRS abuses — perhaps you know one or two yourself, and would consider posting your experiences in the comments section of this FairTax Blogburst participant blog. Simply put, at least some in the IRS have morals that make Tony Soprano look like Mother Teresa, and the relentless tenacity of a French waiter pursuing a tip.
Contact your Senator and Representative now and ask them to support the FairTax. With luck, and working together, we can make April 15 “just another beautiful Spring day”.
The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to join us, please e-mail Terry or Jonathan. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.
Taking flight at TMH’s Bacon Bits (but likely only when the runway’s cleared by Brother TMH, who’s stuck in intermittant connectivity limbo today).
*Oh, why do I link the income tax to Danegeld? Oh, it just seems to have too many characteristics in common with that old protection/extortion racket.