IRS: Sorry, but It’s Just Easier and Cheaper to Audit the Poor

www.propublica.org ^ | by Paul Kiel Oct. 2, 2:47 p.m. EDT

[Crusher138]

Or we could save a lot of money and stop doing audits altogether. Just don’t tell anyone.

[Red Badger]

I didn’t know there were any other kind.....................

[Pollard]

Some cops seem to act similar. Way more apt to pull over a poor person or middle class than a gang banger that might shoot at them or rich person that could actually cost the county/city money when they win.

[Red Badger]

Does the money they get thru audits greatly exceed the salaries and bennies of the government thugs that do them?

A few years back, the county next to ours, found out that the tolls to cross a certain tollbridge were barely enough to pay the tollbooth workers salaries and bennies.

They discontinued the tolls, laid off the toll workers and tore down the tollbooths..................

[Ken H]

What do they mean by audit? For example, a few years ago my accountant notified me that the IRS had disputed a small deduction. We both agreed it wasn’t worth contesting.

Does that count as an audit, or are they talking about a formal process?

[shanover]

ABOLISH the IRS.

[RedStateRocker]

Exactly. If you have 100 million it’s well worth it to hire some good attorneys and accountants to shield a big part of it, if you have ten grand in the bank, not so much.

[hadaclueonce]

Point taken

[Night Hides Not]

When I think of an audit, it involves a face to face meeting with an agent. Correspondence through the mail, or via phone is often included by others as an audit.

Matter of perspective.

[Red Badger]

We should abolish the INCOME TAX and replace it with a CONSUMPTION TAX, similar to a Sales Tax, but only on NEW items, not used items. Not on food or Medicines, either..............

[untenured]

The writer writes poorly. If the rich and poor are both audited at a proportion of one percent, there is not a “disproportionate” focus on the poor.

[Red Badger]

Just a lot more of them.....................

[Enterprise]

Maybe President Trump can issue an executive order directing the IRS to cease audition families earning less than 250,000 dollars a year.

[Enterprise]

Excellent analogy!

[central_va]

We should abolish the INCOME TAX and replace it with a CONSUMPTION TAX, a uniform across the board import tariff.

Fixed it.

[Enterprise]

“cease auditing”

[SunkenCiv]

• Judge dismisses high-tax states' lawsuit against Trump tax deduction limits
• Americans Spent More on Taxes in 2018 Than on Food, Clothing and Health Care Combined

[SunkenCiv]

• They're coming for us HOUSE DEMS PLOT TO USE IRS TO SUPPRESS CONSERVATIVES

[SkyDancer]

The IRS has returned the Tax Return to a man in New Jersey after he apparently answered one of the questions incorrectly. In response to the question, ... "Do you have anyone dependent on you ?" The man wrote: ... "2.1 million illegal immigrants, 1.1 million crackheads, 4.4 million unemployable scroungers, 80,000 criminals in over 85 prisons, plus 650 idiots in Washington and the entire group that call themselves Politicians". IRS stated that the response he gave was unacceptable.

The man's response back was, ... "Who did I leave out ?"

[asinclair]

What do they mean by audit?

As I recall, there are broadly two types of audit. The first audit is a query about specific items in the return, or information the IRS believes is missing. The second type of audit is the research audit, where the IRS goes over EVERYTHING in your return.

I'm not a tax expert by any means, but the first form of audit is used on "the little guy" and is based on all the reports sent to the IRS from service providers (think banks, employers, clients, brokers) about your business with those providers. The times I've been audited, it's been a letter from the IRS and perhaps a phone call.

The 1% audits, on the other hand, may well be full-blown research audits, or cover so many IRS irregularity claims, that it takes many man-hours of both taxpayer and bureaucrat time.

Research audits can backfire. One of my accountants told me a story about one of his clients who was subjected to a research audit. Two weeks and 7 years worth of tax returns later, the IRS ended up owing the taxpayer around eight hundred thousand dollars. So there is a risk. (Don't know all the details.)