Two hundred and thirty four years later I was involved in my own, sort of, tax revolt, when during my first audit, for tax years 2005 and 2006, the IRS determined I claimed some things which I was not allowed; according to their standards, I had only a "passive interest" in my business. So, I had to pay a couple thousand dollars in back taxes and about the same in penalties and interest. Frightened and alone since I had completed my own taxes, it was all "yes mam" as I silently prayed for leniency. In 2007 I learned a valuable, $4,500.00, lesson - use a professional tax accountant. And I have ever since.
A couple of year's later I learned two more lessons from my now, one time a year best friend, my tax accountant. The first was, that when conducting an audit, the IRS is not required to disclose any errors in your return which are in their favor. After my accountant reviewed my '05 and '06 returns along with the IRS audit paperwork, she determined I had overstated my income by $19,000 and $21,000 respectfully. The IRS auditor surely would have identified this but did not point it out. This income overstatement FAR outweighed the exemptions which the IRS disqualified - bottom line - they actually owed me money. Including wrongly collected penalties and interest. The second lesson was, upon accepting an audits findings, you have only three years to request an amendment (they, of course, have 7 years to audit you). I had missed the window.
As if my education in the 'ways of taxation' had not been interesting enough, I learned yet another lesson in 2009.
The state of KS wrongly confiscated my state refund that year. It took my accountant - thankfully I had a professional on my side this time - 18 months of fighting with the KS Department of Revenue before they admitted their mistake. Unfortunately for me, by the time of their concession, KS had run out of money from their 2009 revenues. For the record, they said they were very sorry and promised to add my name to a list for tax reimbursement if and when they collected additional revenue for that year. You see, their accounting laws restrict debits and credits to the same year - they are prohibited from reimbursing money out of any other tax year except the year the revenue was received. I'm still waiting.
The president and his advisers have continually and publicly belittled, ridiculed, accused - often falsely, demonized and attacked the groups singled out in this IRS mess since Obama began running for office in 2006.
So I am not surprised by the current IRS scandal. And this is not the first administration to be accused of allowing, encouraging or overlooking abuse by our all powerful tax collectors.
I am, however, terrified about the pending changes to the IRS's greatly increased and wholly unclear responsibility regarding the assessment and administration of fees for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
I wonder if the health care bill would have passed had we known all of the "IRS" information up front... 15,000 new IRS agents (at an average annual salary of $75,000 that will cost us $1,125,000,000 - One Billion, One Hundred Twenty Five Million Dollars per year) employed to audit and assess our tax returns for the funding of the bill, open access to our medical records, open access to our banking and financial information and, thanks to Sandra Fluke, access to our bedroom via free contraception. Americans are, even if tongue in cheek, suspicious of the IRS. My experiences certainly give me reason to be skeptical of their intentions. This week's revelations of profiling and targeting individuals and groups reminds us we are right to be weary of tax collectors and the power we grant them.
Did you get that? The power WE GRANT THEM.
And today there's this. Are you kidding me? Surely this is just a script for a Saturday Night Live skit... it cannot possibly be real!
Everyone agreed we needed to overhaul our health care system, in some form or fashion. Half of us liked the Obama care solution - at least the way it was sold in the beginning. The number now approving of it, following the revelations over the last year, hovers closer to 38%. And we still don't have a clue about the entire process. I am pretty sure no one agreed to put an over zealous leader in charge of our already over zealous tax collectors (including an additional 15,000 over zealous recruits), not to mention allowing them into our bedroom, bank and doctors office.
The cronyism, partisanship, deception and power grab in our government has become overwhelming. Regardless of which party holds power, there seems to be no end to their insatiable appetite for control. Is it any wonder then, that in a recent poll, when asked if "In the next few years, an armed revolution might be necessary in order to protect our liberties," do you agree, disagree, or have no opinion? An astounding 30% said they agreed.
One look at Syria should prevent the sane among us from taking that step. May I suggest instead: Study history, research political candidates, and then take advantage of the wonderful gift of democracy we have in America.
Trust but Verify.
Vote.
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