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March 6, 2007
Bloomberg: Closing Tax Gap Would Turn IRS Into "Beast"
Interesting article on Bloomberg: Democrats' Revenue Plans Might Mean Turning Taxman Into "Beast'," by Ryan J. Donmoyer:
Congressional Democrats' vision of billions of unpaid tax dollars, just waiting to be collected, may prove to be a mirage. The Democrats want Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to increase tenfold the amount of new revenue to be raised by collecting some of the estimated $290 billion in taxes that individuals and businesses don't pay each year because of fraud or error. ...
[S]ays Representative Charles Rangel, the New York Democrat who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee: "I don't know why they keep talking about it and then say we can't get much back." The reason, say tax experts, is that doing so would require thousands of new IRS agents as well as stricter filing rules, more stringent audits, tighter scrutiny of small businesses and other politically unpopular steps that Paulson says would penalize "honorable and honest" taxpayers. "Turning the 'tax gap' into the pot of gold requires turning the IRS into a beast," says Pamela Olson, a former assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy under President George W. Bush. "They might be able to do it, but they won't like the result."
March 6, 2007 in News | Permalink
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» THE TAX GAP IS SMALLER THAN THE ONE BETWEEN THE EARS OF A CONGRESSMAN from Roth & Company, P.C.
An excellent article by Ryan Donmoyer for Bloomberg bursts the bubble of the congresscritters, especially Charlie Rangel, who look to... [Read More]
Tracked on Mar 7, 2007 9:48:00 AM
Comments
The pundits fail to see that the IRS is not limited to the status quo. Congress need merely federalize the practice of tax: advice, preparation, the sale of tax-advantaged financial products, tax-related services (e.g. transfer pricing and tax valuations), and the sale, brokering, or marketing thereof. Let the IRS audit the tax practices of these people and firms. They would no longer need to audit taxpayers directly. Assuming arguendo that this puts the fear of God into the tax practitioner community, many taxpayers would face uncomfortable decisions come tax time.
Lest taxpayers be without recourse, Congress should create an immutable private right of action under the Internal Revenue Code.
The IRS to the right of them,
Trial lawyers to the left of them
Disgruntled clients in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Poorly they rode and meek,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell.
Posted by: Apep | Mar 6, 2007 8:19:22 PM
