DUmmies Discuss IRS Audits

[GOBUCKS]

Any story purporting to describe an IRS outrage gets lots of attention at the DUmp. Nevermind that most are bouncy tales from a DUmmy who just wants to brag about having taxable income, these tales, like those concerning kiddie porn, strike a nerve at the DUmp, causing all kinds of defensive reactions:

Newsjock  (1000+ posts)       Sun Dec-06-09 06:08 PM
Original message
$10 an hour with 2 kids? IRS pounces
 Source: Seattle Times

Rachel Porcaro knows she's hardly rich. When you're a single mom making 10 bucks an hour, you don't need government experts to tell you how broke you are.

But that's what happened. The government not only told Porcaro she was poor. They said she was too poor to make it in Seattle.

... "I asked the IRS lady straight upfront — 'I don't have anything, why are you auditing me?' " Porcaro recalled. "I said, 'Why me, when I don't own a home, a business, a car?' "

The answer stunned both Porcaro and the private tax specialist her dad had gotten to help her.

"They showed us a spreadsheet of incomes in the Seattle area," says Dante Driver, an accountant at Seattle's G.A. Michael and Co. "The auditor said, 'You made eighteen thousand, and our data show a family of three needs at least thirty-six thousand to get by in Seattle."

"They thought she must have unreported income. That she was hiding something. Basically they were auditing her for not making enough money."

... Driver quickly determined the IRS was wrong in how it was interpreting the tax laws. He sent in the necessary code citations and hoped that would be the end of it.

Instead, the IRS responded by launching an audit of Rachel's parents.

Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/201...

 
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7168777
Maybe there is just a tiny bit of undisclosed detail here?


DUmmy saigonnumbers tiptoes around the edge of blasphemy:

saigon68  (1000+ posts)        Sun Dec-06-09 06:17 PM
11. Yes its more "change we can believe in"
Shit like this is why people don't like the govment

babylonsister  (1000+ posts)        Sun Dec-06-09 06:11 PM
Response to Original message
2. This is so disgusting, I can't even express my disdain. Why aren't 
they picking on someone who might actually be defrauding the government?

MadMaddie  (1000+ posts)      Sun Dec-06-09 06:11 PM
3. I read this story this morning and was flabberghasted.
This woman is not allowed to claim her kids as dependents. Why are they attacking the working poor?

 

villager  (1000+ posts)      Sun Dec-06-09 06:12 PM
4. Can she incorporate? They'll never touch a corporation... 
But be a mere ****in' citizen, however...

ProdigalJunkMail  (1000+ posts)        Sun Dec-06-09 06:47 PM
20. yep...that is why my corporation gets audited every other year...

I would love to learn more about DUmmy ProdigalJunkMail's "corporation".
 

Arctic Dave  (1000+ posts)      Sun Dec-06-09 06:12 PM
5. Meanwhile, millionaires get every tax loop hole imaginable to hide their income.

bluestateguy  (1000+ posts)        Sun Dec-06-09 06:12 PM
7. There is a way the Democrats could become the anti-tax party
Make it official policy that nobody making under $100,000 will ever be audited, unless there is overwhelming evidence of fraud.

"We trust the people to do their taxes as they see fit...blah, blah", and other such populist stuff. Would go over very well I think.

 
That would be stupid. The democrat party already has an official policy of trying prevent anyone form ever making $100,000.

Fumesucker  (1000+ posts)        Sun Dec-06-09 06:14 PM
8. Wait until the IRS comes after you for not purchasing private medical insurance..
This is nothing compared to what it's going to be like when the IRS becomes Aetna's enforcer.

 

Dragonfli  (1000+ posts)        Sun Dec-06-09 06:24 PM
13. The mandates will mean the End of the Democratic party with the working class
All the independents I work with or around voted for him because guys like me told them the Dems wanted to even the playing field for the working poor.

I asked around recently and I have found no one that is not pissed off about the thought of mandates they can't afford for crappy policies they don't think are worth a damn that have very high deductibles that also can't be afforded.

That's what the DUmbasses deserve for casting their vote based on the recommendation of a DUmmy.

kestrel91316  (1000+ posts)        Sun Dec-06-09 06:25 PM
14. The IRS audited me for three years in a row. They couldn't believe that
I could live on so little, but between living uber-frugally, growing most of my own produce (and preserving it), frittering away a small inheritance, and using credit cards, I was in fact able to do so. Not all of us spend a mere 33% of our income on rent (in my case it was more like 75%, lol).

The IRS wasted a huge amount of time, money, and energy pursuing little old me. In the end, they got only about $1000 because of how I had accounted for credit card interest as a business expense.

   
Thanks to the bounty of America, I've always made a very good living, but I have never been audited, while DUmmies seem to suffer that inconvenience constantly. The only correspondence I have received from the IRS in my entire life was once in the 70s, when there was an error on my return, and they were notifying me that my refund would be more than I had filed for. I guess the DUmmies are right - voting Republican qualifies one for preferential treatment.

 

NJCher (1000+ posts)        Sun Dec-06-09 06:42 PM
17. Republicans at fault again: read the story carefully
Republicans have called the credits "backdoor welfare" and tried to cancel them. When they controlled Congress, they ordered the IRS to ramp up audits of people who claim the credit.

So in other words, if you claim the earned income tax credit, you stand a higher chance of an audit. If no one specifically told them to roll back that policy, it is still in effect.
Cher

DUmmies perk up at the mention of anything described as "backdoor".

[Mike220]

NJCher... Ben Burch sock puppet? 

[thundley4]

I read the full article and thought the IRS went way over the line in this case. I hope the IRS is forced to cover some of the legal fees incurred by the family.  The IRS is basically wanting to tax the woman on help she may be getting from her parents that she lives with. As per the article, currently neither her nor her parents are able to claim her children as dependents, almost like they don't exist.

[Gwitness]

Ok DUmmies...this is what happens when you give unchecked power to an agency such as the IRS.....really..what did you expect?

[thundley4]

Ok DUmmies...this is what happens when you give unchecked power to an agency such as the IRS.....really..what did you expect?

And the DUmmies are okay with giving the IRS authority over healthcare.

[Karin]

No kidding.  100% of the U.S. population should be against this nightmarish bill being debated.  There's something in it for everyone to loathe. 

[Toastedturningtidelegs]

Arctic Dave  (1000+ posts)      Sun Dec-06-09 06:12 PM
5. Meanwhile, millionaires get every tax loop hole imaginable to hide their income.

Yes! John Kerry,Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi and The Clintons should be ashamed of themselves.....

[Chump]

Thanks to the bounty of America, I've always made a very good living, but I have never been audited, while DUmmies seem to suffer that inconvenience constantly. The only correspondence I have received from the IRS in my entire life was once in the 70s, when there was an error on my return, and they were notifying me that my refund would be more than I had filed for. I guess the DUmmies are right - voting Republican qualifies one for preferential treatment.

I would venture to say your success has more so been a function of your personal ambition and drive, capitalizing on the bounty you mentioned.  Otherwise, DUmmies might also be successful, as they also live in America.  They're not, because they're useless.

[crockspot]

I've been on unemployment since the beginning of March, and I haven't been having IRS deductions from it. In one way, I'm a little worried that I might have to cough up some money in April. But when I think about it, considering I did make payroll deductions in Jan and Feb, and me being part of the new Obama serfdom, I'll probably get a big fat credit/refund.

[Oceander]

I've been on unemployment since the beginning of March, and I haven't been having IRS deductions from it. In one way, I'm a little worried that I might have to cough up some money in April. But when I think about it, considering I did make payroll deductions in Jan and Feb, and me being part of the new Obama serfdom, I'll probably get a big fat credit/refund.

It wouldn't hurt to do a quick little back of the envelope calculation to get a rough estimate of what your taxes are likely to be, and then compare that with the total amount that was withheld from your pay for January and February.  Odds are you won't have to make any estimated payments during '09 (a little too late for that anyway, but penalties & interest would apply if you did have to make them), but it'll let you know whether or not you need to start really scrimping and saving so you can feed Uncle Sugar in April.

[bkg]

If they dummies would support a consumption tax, this wouldn't be an issue, eh?

[NHSparky]

Hmmmm...in my working life (at least since the age of 17), my income has varied from $8000 in a year to over $100K.  I've been single, married, and now divorced.  I've officially resided in at least a half dozen states.  Yet in over 25 years, I've yet to be audited a single time. 

Why?  Simple--don't claim stupid shit you're not entitled to.  Yes, I deduct clothing for work, union dues, mortgage interest, donations, and the other usual stuff.  It's when you start trying to get "creative" that red flags start popping up.